Living Fairy Tales
by Invisible-Nobody
Summary: What happens when Neil buys a new mirror. Atlanta and Theresa get sucked into another world. Will the boys be able to save them? Or will they be stuck forever? Possible AxA, JxT, OCxAt, OCxN-one sided
1. The New Mirror

A/N: Hey, I'd like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this for me!! Also this is my first story so yeah, please read and review!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Class of the Titans… unfortunately

* * *

**Chapter 1: The New Mirror**

"Oh my god! It's perfect!!"

"Neil you already have a mirror! Actually you have 5 or 6… Why do you need this one as well?"

"Because Theresa, it's perfect, like me!"

Theresa sighs and rolls her eyes, "Ok but how are you going to pay for it and how do you plan on getting it home?"

Neil looks at the mirror, which is humongous and has an elaborate golden frame around it. "Its only..." Neil looks at the price tag "750 dollars! That's easily covered."

"Really? What's wrong with it for it to be so cheap?" Theresa asks.

"Nothing is wrong with it Theresa, it's just never suited anyone the way it does me!"

"Ok… that still doesn't answer how you expect to get this humongous thing home. I'm not Herry you know!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Herry! That's it! I'll call Herry, he can come and pick us up and carry it to his truck and then to my room where it'll look fabulous because reflecting me all the time is fabulous…" Neil continued to ramble as Theresa examined the mirror.

'Something about this mirror doesn't seem right,' Theresa thought to herself.

Meanwhile Neil, in between rambling about himself and his reflection, went to the counter to inform the shop owner that he wanted to purchase the mirror. When Theresa looked up from her momentary thoughts, Neil is heading towards her with the store owner.

"Do you need the mirror delivered?" the store owner asks.

"No, my friend will be able to carry it," Neil said easily.

The store owner looked at Theresa, confused.

"Oh not her!" Neil said as if it was completely obvious that Theresa wasn't going to be carrying the mirror. "My _other_ friend is meeting us here. Duh!"

"So you rang Herry then?" Theresa asked.

"No, but he's at the mall with Odie and they will eventually walk past."

"You mean you expect me to wait here until Herry and Odie just happen to walk past?"

"I'm lucky, remember? They could walk past anytime now!"

"Ergh…I'll just ring and see where they are so we know what time they'll come by at least."

As Theresa made to pull out her PMR, who just happens to walk past but…

"HERRY! ODIE!" Neil exclaims.

* * *

Herry and Odie had been shopping in many stores; however, the only thing they had actually bought was food, which Herry was eating with great enthusiasm. This had caused Odie to lose concentration of where they were walking to as he was too amused by Herry. All of a sudden he looks up to notice that they were in a part of the mall they usually avoided.

"Whoa, this part of the mall definitely hasn't got what we are looking for!" Odie states, causing Herry to look up form his meal.

"Huh? How'd we get here?" Herry asks, confused.

"You were too busy eating and distracting me. That's how we got here. Neither one of us were paying attention to where we were walking to," Odie explains.

"So? We just turn around and head back to where we came from," Herry suggests.

"Obviously, there's no way I am walking any further into this part of the mall. Lets go," Odie says.

As they turn and head back in the direction they came from they pass a mirror store. As they pass it they hear their names being called by a very familiar voice. They stop and look around as soon as they hear it.

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding! He doesn't want us to go in there does he?" Odie asks.

"Yep c'mon we can't just ignore him. We better find out what he wants," Herry says, making sure Odie wasn't about to abandon him.

They walk into the mirror store and find Neil and Theresa standing next to the biggest mirror in the shop.

"Hey guys," Theresa says, sounding bored.

"Hey, hello I'm the one that needs your attention!" Neil exclaims, drawing Herry and Odie's attention from Theresa.

"Why? Why did you want us to come in here?" Odie asks.

"Oh not you, just Herry. I need someone with muscles!" Neil explains to Odie.

"What?" Herry asks, as he hadn't completely listened to what Neil said.

"I need you to carry this mirror," Neil explains as he points to the mirror, "to your truck and then when we get home to my room."

"Why?" Odie asks.

"'Cause he just bought it!" Theresa exclaims, hoping they would move on.

"Right…" Herry says as he heads to the mirror and picks it up without a problem.

Herry picked the mirror up carefully, not wanting Neil to start whining. They get enough of that already. They all start to walk towards the car park and Herry's truck.

* * *

When they got home Herry carried the mirror to Neil's bedroom and placed it randomly on the floor. As he made his way out of Neil's room he was stopped by Neil.

"You can't go yet; it's not in the perfect position for me to check my outfit!"

"Does it matter as long as you can look in it?" Herry asks before beginning to head for the door again.

"Herry, please, I know where I want to put it," Neil pleads.

"Ok I'll move it just as long as you know where you want it."

"Great let's try here," Neil says, pointing to the corner of his room.

_4 hours later…_

"No that's not it either!" Neil exclaims while thinking of the next spot to try the mirror.

"C'mon how important is it for this mirror to be in a certain spot!?" Herry asks, tired of the situation he got himself into.

"Very, I have to be able to see myself perfectly."

"Whatever! This is the last time I'm moving it!" Herry explains.

"Ok… A little to the left then and it'll be perfect!"

"Why?" Herry asks, slightly confused

"Because when I wake up in the morning the first thing I'll see is me!" Neil explains with joy.

The mirror was placed in line with Neil's bed, up against the wall leaving space between the bed and the mirror. Neil sat on his bed and began lying down and sitting up like he would in the morning.

"Oh this is perfect, you can go now Herry."

"Thanks, it's about time!" Herry walks out of Neil's room and is heading towards the kitchen before going to watch TV or a movie when he bumps into Jay.

"Hey what took you so long?"

"Neil wanted the mirror in the perfect position!" Herry explains, sounding annoyed

"Ok… I don't want to know where that is!"

Herry and Jay made a pit stop at the kitchen before walking into the lounge to find the other 4 waiting, about to start a movie.

They start to watch one of the movies Archie and Atlanta rented.

* * *

When they had finished watching all of the movies, Neil still hadn't come out of his room, which they all figured was because of his 'beauty sleep'. Theresa was the last one up and is getting a drink of water before heading to bed.

As she is heading upstairs a faint glow catches her eye. When she has a proper look she can see that the glow is coming from Neil's room.

'That's odd,' she thinks to herself.

She wanders over to Neil's room and slowly and quietly opens the door. Not to her surprise Neil is fast asleep with his eye mask on. What surprises her is that the glow, which is twice as bright as light in the hallway, is coming from his new mirror…


	2. Jealousy

A/N: Hey, welcome to chapter 2! I would like to thank everyone that reviewed and anyone who read chapter 1! A big thanks goes to Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this chapter! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: Even though I don't own Class of the Titans a certain character is of my creation!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Jealousy**

The rest of the team are watching movies so Neil decides it was a good time for some uninterrupted, beauty sleep. He gets into his pyjamas and searches for his eye mask. Once he finds it, he gets into bed and puts it on, lying down to go to sleep.

When the faint noise of snoring was heard the mirror begins to glow. In the mirror a face appears. The face has blue skin, no hair and a pointed nose and chin. Its eyes are completely black.

"Such a handsome fellow… it's about time someone looked into my mirror with such appreciation," says the face aloud as she gazes Neil and his room. "No one has ever looked at me like that; he is simply perfect and shouldn't be living in this drab world."

The face continues to stare at Neil, admiring him as he sleeps. Her thoughts are uninterrupted by the door slowly opening, which the face does not notice as she is too distracted. The noise of the door completely opening, however snaps her out from her current state as she notices Theresa enter Neil's room.

'What is she doing here?' the face thinks. 'She's the one that tried to convince him not to buy me!'

"Why is the mirror glowing?" Theresa whispers to herself.

'She better not be his princess!' the face thinks, watching Theresa carefully. All of a sudden she feels jealous of Theresa. 'I know! I'll get rid of her, then he'll be all mine!'

Theresa takes another step into Neil's room and towards Neil's bed. She begins to walk closer to Neil, about to wake him up when she feels a pulling sensation. She turns to see the glow coming from the mirror has formed the shape of a hand and is travelling towards her. It grabs her around the waist and begins pulling her towards the mirror! She opens her mouth to cry out but nothing comes out because another hand is covering her mouth. Theresa begins to wriggle and attempt to get out of the grip but because of how close she was to the mirror, she is almost against the mirror already.

In a corner of the mirror is the face, smiling. 'Too easy,' she thinks to herself.

Theresa is now right up against the frame of the mirror. She grabs it, hoping to stop herself from being pulled closer. But it doesn't make a difference; her hand slips and she is pulled into the mirror.

* * *

The next day everyone meets in the kitchen for breakfast, everyone except Theresa and Neil.

"Has anyone seen Theresa this morning?" Atlanta asks.

"Nope," all four boys reply.

"I should go check her room then, shouldn't I?" Atlanta mumbles more to herself than to anyone in particular. She then walks out of the kitchen towards the stairs and to Theresa's room.

When she arrives at Theresa's door, she knocks. She waits but gets no reply. Instead of knocking again she slowly opens the door to see if Theresa is in her room and still asleep. Stepping into Theresa's room it is clear that Theresa had not slept there the night before. The bed is made and the room looks perfect. Atlanta turns around and starts walking back downstairs to the kitchen where the boys were.

"She's not in her room and her bed is made," Atlanta says to the group.

"Maybe she's at a session with Persephone," Jay suggests in reply to Atlanta.

"Uh she wouldn't have organised a girl's day if she had a session with Persephone! " Atlanta replies.

"She spent all day with Neil yesterday, maybe _he_ knows something," Odie suggests

"I'll go ask him," Atlanta says smiling, knowing that he is still asleep and waking him up will be fun.

Atlanta walks to the stairs once more. She walks up the stairs and this time towards Neil's room. Knowing the hissy fit he will throw will be hilarious, she creeps towards Neil's room, ready to pounce. When she is at the door and ready to wake Neil up she hears a voice.

"He will be all mine, now that I've gotten rid of that girl…" the voice says.

Atlanta slowly opens the door to see Neil asleep and no one else in there. She creeps slowly into the room. Standing up she looks around the room.

"There is no one in here but Neil and he's snoring his head off," Atlanta says out loud, not caring if she wakes Neil up.

The face however has reappeared in the mirror, staring at Atlanta, watching her movements. 'Another girl! Impossible! How many princesses does he have? Although this one isn't exactly princess-like… look at her hair,' the face thinks. Once again the jealousy over a girl near Neil rises. 'I'll just dispose of this one to be on the safe side,' the face thinks, calming herself down.

The glow appears, forming the shape of a hand as it gets closer to Atlanta. It grabs Atlanta around the waist from behind as she wasn't looking in the direction of the mirror. Surprised Atlanta tries to yell but the mirror is ready for it, releasing another hand to place over her mouth. Atlanta starts to struggle but the hand begins to move quicker towards the mirror, taking Atlanta with it. Thinking quickly Atlanta stops wriggling and reaches for her bolos that are permanently in her pocket. She gets them in her hand ready to throw them, until she realises she is almost in the mirror. Placing her feet on the frame on either side of the mirror to try and stop the hand, she struggles to find something to aim at but all she can see is mirrors. Not wanting the constant whining from Neil, she decides against smashing one of the mirrors. Her feet are slowly losing grip on the frame and she is being pulled into the mirror. In a last attempt to make noise she throws her bolos randomly towards Neil's bookshelf, which contains an assortment of photo frames. Not knowing whether her bolos connected with anything Atlanta is pulled into the mirror, to the joy of the face.

* * *

The boys are finishing of their breakfast when they hear a crashing sound.

"What was that?" Jay questions the others.

"Atlanta!" is all Archie says as he races to the stairs and towards Neil's room.

The other 3 all follow him. Upon entering Neil's room they see that the majority of his photos are laying on the ground and the rest falling like dominoes.

"Well, that explains the noise." Odie says pointing to the photos, "but those I can't explain."

Herry, Jay and Archie all turn to look at the next item Odie is pointing at.

"Atlanta's bolos?" Herry asks, turning towards Archie for an answer. "Why are they in Neil's room?"

"She did come up here to ask Neil about Theresa, remember," Jay answers.

"Yeah but where is she now?" Odie questions.

"Not here and we need to find her and make sure she is ok!" Archie states, raising his voice.

At this Neil sits bolt up right and takes off his eye mask, "What are you guys doing in my room?" he says before a look of shock comes over his face. "And what happened to all my photos!"

"Neil did Atlanta speak to you?" Jay asks Neil, overlooking his distress.

"Atlanta, I didn't speak to Atlanta, I've been asleep," Neil answers before beginning to pick up his broken photos, with a hint of a watery tear in his eye.

"Well Atlanta and Theresa are missing; you haven't spoken to either of them since yesterday?" Odie interrogates Neil.

"No! The last person I spoke to was Herry when he helped me move my mirror!" At this Jay, Archie and Odie all look at his newest addition to the collection. Neil joins them catching his reflection and looking at it lovingly, clutching his broken photos.

While the other four are discussing what could've happened to Theresa and Atlanta. Neil was staring into his mirror, sitting on his bed in his pyjamas. He catches random bits of the conversation. "What if..." was heard a lot apart from the "Cronus" words from Jay's mouth. Neil who is still staring at himself jumps and falls of the bed.

"Jay… I think there's something wrong with my mirror!" Neil shouts from the floor beside his bed.

Jay and the others all turn and look at his new mirror. Their faces show beyond shock at the sight of a face staring back at them.


	3. Not in New Olympia Anymore

A/N: Hey here is chapter 3!! Sorry it has taken me a long time to update! Uni stuff and work got in the way!! Anyways thanks goes to Ferlinda the Dreamweaver (if you haven't read her stories yet, you should) for beta reading this! Also thanks to everyone that read and especially those who reviewed my other chapters! So enjoy, please read and review!

Disclaimer: as you know I don't own COTT but I do own one character who came from somewhere in my mind...

* * *

**Chapter 3: Not in New Olympia Anymore**

Theresa wakes up to a room she's never seen before. She sits up and looks around the room. She recognises nothing.

'Where am I?' she thinks.

As she stands, she realises that she isn't even wearing her own clothes.

"Why am I dressed like this?" she asks out loud this time.

Looking down at herself she sees she is wearing drab, ripped, stained clothes that she would never have even considered wearing in her life. Her hair is down as usual.

She wanders over to the wardrobe and opens the doors. Looking at the small assortment of clothes in the wardrobe, she sees that all of the pieces are definitely not hers and all have rips and stains on them. She takes out a piece of clothing and looks at it before putting it back in the wardrobe.

Not liking what she sees, she turns to see if there is anything in the room that can help her find out where she is. All she can see is a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. The room is very simple and doesn't have much in it. She notices a window on the far side of the room. She walks over and peers out the window. All she can see is a backyard with washing and some animals. Stepping back from the window she walks over to the door and places her hand on the handle. Turning the knob to open the door quietly, she peeks out to see a hallway. Seeing no one in the hallway, she opens the door fully and walks down the hall.

"This is definitely not the brownstone," she says to herself while looking at the pictures on the walls.

* * *

Atlanta wakes up to see a very small room. She sits up to get a proper look around; her head feels heavy and she has no idea why. She moves to the edge of the bed and stands up, losing balance slightly. As she tries to walk she feels as if she if being held by her hair. Turning around she sees a long plait of red hair that trails along the bed close to the wall. She grabs part of the plait and traces it all the way back to the source – which was her… Head?!

"Where am I and why is my hair so long?!" she practically yells.

Grabbing the plait into a bundle Atlanta moves away from the bed to stand in the centre of the room. Looking around she realises the room is circular and only has a window. No door. Still holding her hair in a bundle she walks over to look out the window. Looking down she can see a forest far off to the right and the rest is just ground with no other buildings. She takes a good look directly down and realises how far up she really is.

"Ok… how exactly am I meant to get out if there's no door and I can't exactly climb out the window?

Taking a better look around the room she sees a mirror. Walking towards it, she keeps catching her feet on something. Looking into the mirror she sees a horrifying sight: long red hair and wearing an elegant blue dress that reaches the floor. In a state of shock she walks back to the window. She stands there staring for ages searching for a way out.

* * *

The face is just staring at them.

"Uhh…" is all that was heard as each boy registered in their mind what they are looking at.

"Hmm… what a handsome bunch you are!" the face says, delighted.

"Excuse me?" Neil replies proudly. "I am the handsome one!"

"Indeed you are…" the face states, turning to look at Neil.

"Umm… I don't mean to interrupt but what or who are you?" Jay begins, questioning the face.

"I am Fauthia," the face answers.

"Ok, what are you doing in Neil's mirror?" Odie joins in the questioning.

"Neil's mirror? Who's Neil? This is my mirror!" Fauthia replies, slightly angry.

"Hey I paid for it! It _is_ my mirror!" Neil says, beginning to argue with Fauthia

"Cut it out Neil, this is serious," Jay orders and turns to Fauthia, "You have a few things to explain …"

"Yeah like where Atlanta and Theresa are!" Archie cuts Jay off.

"Those girls are no longer in your world," Fauthia states.

"What do you mean they are no longer in our world?" Odie asks.

"They are in mine," Fauthia replies loftily.

"You're not giving away much information, why?" Jay questions.

"I _am_ answering your questions, maybe you're not asking correctly," suggests Fauthia.

"Can't you just tell us? Why do you have to go round in circles?" Archie exclaims with growing angriness.

"Where are the girls?" Jay asks, interrupting Fauthia's rebuttal.

"I already told you they are in my world," Fauthia says mischievously.

"Where is your world exactly?" Odie asks.

"In _my_ mirror," Fauthia states while glancing at Neil.

"What? The girls are in the mirror?" Herry asks for clarification.

"Yes, and before you ask there is no way for me to bring them back," Fauthia states.

"Fine, we'll just have to go in and get them! Right, Jay?" Archie exclaims angrily before he turns to Jay.

Jay is just looking at the mirror, staring into its face as if they are in a staring competition.

"How do we get them back?" Odie asks.

"The only way is to enter yourselves and if you do, there is no guarantee you will find them," Fauthia explains.

"How do we get in?" Jay suddenly says, coming out of his reverie.

"You can only get in if I allow it," Fauthia says.

"Well then let us in!" Archie states.

"It's not that simple, I have to actually want you to go in and right now… I don't feel like allowing anyone in," Fauthia says, being difficult.

"We just want our friends back," Jay says, trying to appeal to her sense of decency.

"I just can't allow it. There is always a reason behind people entering and at the moment I don't feel your reason is enough," Fauthia says.

"What? Getting our friends back isn't a good enough reason? How about the fact that Herry can smash your mirror in a second!" Archie says raising his voice along with his anger.

"Ahhh, you think threats will gain you entry. Do you think you will be able to save your friends if I'm smashed? Without me they are stuck forever," Fauthia says knowing her position is powerful.

"Fine, we won't smash you," Jays says as he turns to look at Archie, "How about we make a deal?"

"That depends on what I get out of it," Fauthia replies.

"What do you want?" Odie asks

"The handsome one," Fauthia replies looking at Neil who is still on the floor.

"You can't have him, how about you can stay here after we return?" Jay hastily suggests after some quick thinking.

"Hmm… that might work. All you want is entrance, correct?" Fauthia asks thinking over their deal.

"We want entrance and the ability to return to our world when we find our friends," Jay states.

"Ok, here's the deal: you gain access to my world to find your friends and you can exit to your world once you have found your friends. In return I am not removed from this spot – _no_ smashing, _no_ moving, _nothing_. I will remain here forever," Fauthia states, realising that by remaining here she can stare at 'the handsome one', plus once they are in her world, they will have to play by her rules.

"Deal," Jay agrees.

"Prepare yourselves. I will now open my mirror for the five of you. There's no going back once you have arrived," she says as the glow begins.

The mirror begins to glow and Jay gathers the five of them close to the mirror. The glow extends around them and they are pulled in.

* * *

The boys find themselves staring at trees. They are in a forest. Off to the right a faint glow is seen. Jay leads the boys in the direction of the light.

Once they reach the light they see Fauthia in her mirror, but she is not the only mirror they can see.

"Welcome to the forest of tales," Fauthia says smugly, "Just to give you a small piece of information, this world is run through portals. Each portal is the exit and entrance. Good luck!" The whole mirror disappears.

"Great! Now what do we do?" Herry asks, looking towards Jay.

"I don't know, all I know is that this isn't going to be as simple as we thought," Jay answers.


	4. Which Mirror, Possible Trouble and

A/N: Well, this is up early than expected... however please note chapter 5 may not be up as soon as I would like. I have way too many commitments, such as uni and work that I need to pay full attention to. Therefore chapter 5 will be written in the very little spare time I may have. Dont panic though (not that I expect any one to..) it will be up eventually..! I'd like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this chapter and all of you who have reviewed!! So now that I have written an extremely long author's note I shall let you read the chapter! Please read, review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I may not own COTT, I do however claim Fauthia as mine...

* * *

**Chapter 4: Which Mirror, Possible Trouble and Plain Confused**

Jay looking around the part of the forest they are in, all he can see is more mirrors arranged in no particular pattern. He walks towards a mirror and sees that the frame is identical to Fauthia's – with one small exception. It has an oval with a small shape engraved on the top. He looks around at the other mirrors; they are all the same.

"This is definitely going to be harder than I first thought. She said there were portals, so these mirrors must be them. All these mirrors are almost identical. How do we know where they will lead?" Jay states thinking out loud.

"We don't, but the small engraved shapes should provide a clue. Each frame may be almost identical but the engraved shapes are all different. So they should all lead to different places, presumably," Odie replies in answer to Jay, who is also examining the many mirrors.

The other three are just standing there. Archie is tapping his foot out of impatience, Herry is staring into space and Neil is examining himself in his three-panelled mirror that he managed to bring with him.

"Which mirror first?" Odie asks Jay.

"I'm not sure, let's have a look at those engravings first," Jay answers.

Jay and Odie begin to look at the engravings.

"A shoe, a tower, an apple, a rose, gold, a house…" Odie begins but is cut off.

"Ok, we get it, so can't we just pick a mirror and see if Atlanta and Theresa are in there?" Archie asks getting even more impatient.

"What do you think they mean?" Herry asks.

"I think they indicate something about what is through those mirrors," Odie answers.

"I think we should not worry and just choose one! The sooner we do, the sooner we will find Atlanta and Theresa and can get out of here!" Archie states now moving towards the mirrors.

"Well, which one then?" Herry asks, also walking towards the mirrors.

"Does it matter? This one!" Archie answers while he points towards the mirror with the engraving of an apple.

Archie walks towards it and places his hand on the surface of the mirror and his hand goes straight through. Then he puts his leg through and, having stepped through the mirror, disappears inside, leaving Jay and the others with no choice but to follow.

* * *

Continuing to walk down the hallway, Theresa walks past several rooms but looks into none. She is absorbed in the photos she sees on the walls. The photos depict two girls about her age and their mother. The girls look snobby and spoilt; the mother, on the other hand, looks plain mean. The hallway is covered in photos of these three, nobody else. The hallway, which is really long, seems to go on forever. Looking back at where she came from, the lighting near the room she was in is so dark you can barely see the door. If she didn't know it was there she would never have noticed it. She turns and begins continuing her walk along the hallway.

"I don't understand. Where am I?" she whispers, staring at the pictures.

She finally reaches the end of the hallway and sees a staircase. She slowly walks down the staircase, admiring more of the house with every step. At the bottom of the staircase she sees a door left ajar. She heads towards it, half wanting someone to be in there and half wanting it to be empty. She opens the door and sees an empty kitchen. She walks in, feeling slightly calmer. She slowly walks over to the kitchen bench and sees a note.

Picking up the note she reads it out loud: "Your chores for today are the usual; make sure lunch is prepared when we arrive home. You are aware of the consequences."

Slightly confused, she puts the note back on the bench. Looking around the kitchen, she sees at clock. It reads six minutes to twelve. Before she can react, she hears a door close outside the house. She moves quickly out from the kitchen, past the staircase and to a window. Unsure of how she seemed to know there actually was a window there, she looks out to see a carriage. Stepping out of the carriage are the three people that she had previously seen in all the photos. The two girls are wearing what looks to be expensive clothes, but still they are quite ugly. The mother is busying herself by trying to get them out the carriage faster and towards the front doors. All three are carrying bags – plenty of them. Theresa is still staring at them when they reach the front step. Placing down the bags she was carrying, the mother opens the door. Theresa is frozen, not wanting to move. The mother and her daughters walk in and straight past her. The girls now carrying the mother's bags walk up the stairs. The mother however heads for the kitchen. Theresa now realises she is still standing at the window and decides it may be best to slip out the front door. She begins to move slowly towards the door. She doesn't get very far when she hears the kitchen door slam against a wall. Her head whips around and she sees the mother standing there fuming, staring straight at Theresa.

'This can't be good,' Theresa thinks, standing frozen to the spot again.

* * *

Sick of staring out the window for no reason, Atlanta picks up her hair. She moves to the bed and lies down. There are no objects in the room that interest her. Her meagre choices are the window, the mirror or the bed. None of which offer anything exciting and Atlanta is getting restless. Lying on the bed, her thoughts drift to many topics.

"Ugh! I am so bored! It would be great if a door would suddenly appear and I can leave this awful room!" She says annoyed.

Sitting up to double check for anything interesting, she wonders what her friends are doing.

"I bet Neil is staring into his mirror, Herry will be eating, Odie playing computer games, Jay has probably found Theresa by now and they will be off doing god knows what, and Archie I don't know, he would've noticed I was missing surely," Atlanta says to herself, hopeful about the last part.

Just sitting there, she is still wondering about her friends, her thoughts lingering on the latter. Feeling even more bored than before, she lies back down.

"If I'm going to do nothing, I'm going to do it comfortably," she states, "Why am I talking to myself? I guess there's no one else,"

'If I was at home I would have someone to be bored with,' she thinks.

"Ergh! Damn Archie! Come and help me already! If you were a good best friend, you would!" She says louder than before.

'I don't actually know where he is though. He is probably on his way right now,' her brain interjects, attempting to soothe her vocal thoughts.

About to begin an argument with herself, she stops. Her hunter senses have kicked in and she can hear movement around the tower. Gathering all her hair in a messy bundle she half-runs, as she is still wearing a dress, towards the window. Just before arriving at the window she hears an unfamiliar voice.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," the voice yells.

Closer to the window she looks out and sees a woman, much older than her staring up at the window.

"Who's Rapunzel?" Atlanta yells back at her.

The woman just looks up at her before saying, "Don't play games with me dear, you are Rapunzel,"

Atlanta just stands there, confused.


	5. Through the First Mirror

A/N: Hello! Chapter 5 is finally here!! First of all I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this for me!! Also everyone who has read and reviewed previous chapters!! Sorry this has taken me kinda a long time to write and post but I had and still have heaps of homework and other commitments to deal with!! Thank you for being patient!!Reviews are great no matter what length or how random, I'll read them!! So please read, review and enjoy!!

Disclaimer: I do not (and doubt I ever will) own COTT or certain parts of this chapter (you will understand when it gets to them!)

* * *

**Chapter 5: Through the First Mirror**

Stepping out of the mirror, the five boys find they are in another forest. With a quick glance around, they realise the mirror they came through is nowhere to be seen.

"No way! How are we going to get back?" Herry says with a sigh.

"We have to find the portal; she never said it would stay in the one place. She just said each portal is the exit and entrance," Odie explains

"Great! So not only do we have to look for Atlanta and Theresa, we have to look for the portal," Archie states.

"Let's just try and find the girls, then we can look for the portal," Jays says, starting to walk towards some light just aside from where they were standing.

The others all follow and they almost are at the edge of the forest. They all notice that the trees in this forest seem to be larger than the trees that were in the Forest of Tales.

"Uh, is it just me or are these trees huge?" Archie asks, turning around to look at the other four.

"Maybe they're not huge, maybe _we_ are the ones that became smaller," Odie suggests.

"What do you mean?" Jay asks Odie.

"Well, take a good look at us. Do we look like ourselves to you?" Odie replies.

At this point all four look at each other and themselves. Looks of confusion slide onto their faces.

"What are you guys wearing? Wait! What am _I_ wearing?!" Neil asks half laughing, half worried. He instantly looks in his mirror, which is still in his hand after walking through the mirror.

They are all wearing loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts, tight pants like leggings or tights, shoes that looked like a cross between socks and shoes and they all have hats on. They also have belts around their waists, on top of their shirts. They all look the same but varying in colour, except Herry. Herry's seem a little tighter than the others.

"Oh my god! I'm having a nightmare! I can't be seen wearing this! It's horrendous!" Neil exclaims looking around to see if any one was there.

"Neil! No one is here! It doesn't matter what you're wearing! We have to find the girls!" Archie states with his attention directed at Neil.

"Ok, let's not argue. If we are going to find the girls we need to get a move on," Jay says, coming in between the argument.

Without waiting for a response, Jay leads the others out of the forest where they see a cottage with two men of similar height standing out in the front. Jay begins to walk up to the two men with the rest in tow.

"Excuse me? Could you tell me where we are?" Jay asks the men who, as Jay realised when walking towards them, are dressed similar to them.

"Tell you where you are? Doc? We're home. Where have you been anyways?" the first man says to Jay while stifling a yawn.

"Huh?" Jay says in reply.

"We don't live here," Odie says.

"Yes you do, we _all_ do. We always have," the second man says before sticking his finger under his nose to stop himself sneezing.

"Well, do we have a change of clothes in the house then?" Neil asks the men.

"What? Why would you need a change of clothes? You always wear that," the first man says, with drooping eyes.

"I think I'm going to faint," Neil says, clutching his mirror to his chest.

"Don't be so silly Dopey, you won't faint. Its just nearly dinner time," the first man says to Neil.

"Dopey! I'm not dopey!" Neil exclaims.

"If you say so," Archie adds sniggering.

"Now, now, Grumpy," the second man says to Archie.

Before Archie can reply, the first man turns to Jay and asks, "Doc, can we go in now? It's getting late and I'm starting to get tired."

"Umm… I guess" Jay replies, unsure of why these two men are asking for his permission to enter their own home.

The two men lead the way into the cottage. Jay and the others follow, walking slowly and with much uncertainty. The first room in the house is a combination of a dining room, kitchen and lounge room. It all blends into one and the fire is going.

"Something's not right," the second man says to Jay. Jay just looks around the room, confused.

"How do you know?" Jay asks.

"The fire is going, you never leave the fire going," the second man replies to Jay.

"Right," Jay says, noticing stairs off to the left, "should we check upstairs?"

The first and second man nod and begin to creep towards the stairs. Jay looks back at Archie, Herry, Odie and Neil and signals them to follow. As they begin to move the first two men turn to Jay and the second man whispers, "Go on."

Jay leads them upstairs. Strangely, it feels comforting to have six, not four, people following him. Jay begins walking up the stairs slowly with his friends and the two men following.

Once they are at the top he sees a door to the right. He points to the door while turning to check with the two men. The two men nod and wave their hands encouragingly. Jay turns back to face the door and moves towards it. Creeping up slowly, he hears someone behind him step on a creaky floor board. They all turn to see Neil at the end of the line, slowly lifting his foot from the ground, smiling sheepishly. All six of them shush Neil. They turn and continue towards the door.

Placing his hand on the door knob, Jay turns to face them and counts silently using his fingers and mouthing the numbers, "1, 2, 3", he opens the door quickly and quietly. Jay takes a step into the room, he can see seven beds. Arranged in two groups; one of four and the other of three. Each bed also has a name engraved in the bed frame.

"I don't see anything," Jay whispers to the others.

"There's someone in those beds," Odie whispers pointing to the group of four.

At that moment a girl sits up. To the boys she seems very tall. They all just stare. She stretches and yawns before she turns to look in their direction. The two men have already hidden but the five boys were just standing there, blank expressions on their faces. The girl looks at them before she speaks.

"Oh, hello," she says. Her voice is sickly sweet. This leaves the boys stunned. Odie especially becomes very shy.

"Hello," Herry says, a little too cheerfully.

"Why, aren't you strange little men?" she says quietly.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Jay asks.

"Why, I am Snow White," she says smilingly.

"Really?" Archie says in disbelief, "Snow White?"

"Yes, my stepmother, the queen tried to kill me. Then I stumbled upon this house and fell asleep…" she begins to explain while noticing the two men hiding. "Why are you hiding?"

Neither of them answers but creeps out from where they were hiding. The second man just stops behind Odie when he sneezes. The sneeze knocks all of them, except Snow White, off their feet. Neil lands on a bed, luckily, and the rest land on the floor hitting bed frames and other pieces of furniture along the way.

"Oh, I can guess who you are," Snow White says, giggling, "you must be Sneezy," she says looking at the man and the names on the beds. The boys are watching Snow White, taking in what is happening. Jay notices that the other man looks asleep.

"And he must be Sleepy," Snow White says looking at the other man, still giggling.

Odie is just standing there blushing, staring at Snow White, Neil is lounging on the bed, Archie is standing with his arms crossed looking irritated, Jay is standing slightly in front of the others watching what is happening and Herry is standing there smiling gleefully. His smile goes from ear to ear. Snow White just continues.

"And you are: Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Doc and you must be Happy," Snow White says as she points to them in order.

All the boys' look around at each other, looks of understanding come upon Jay and Odie's faces, Herry just looks unbelievably happy, Archie annoyed and Neil is still just relaxing. The room is incredibly silent until Herry's stomach rumbles.

"Oh my, are you hungry?" Snow White asks.

"Why yes," Herry replies in a strangely, overly happy tone.

"I shall go make us some dinner," Snow White says as she gets up out of the beds and goes out the door.

"Doc, are you going to let her?" Sneezy asks looking at Jay.

"Yes," Jay replies after a few seconds realising Sneezy is talking to him.

Odie goes to wake Sleepy up and the seven of them leave the bedroom, with Jay in the lead and Neil in the rear.

* * *

When they arrive downstairs Snow White is busy in the kitchen. Jay and the others are all looking around the place still unsure of their whereabouts. Sleepy and Sneezy head straight for the dinner table.

Jay takes this time to briefly speak to the others.

"We're in a fairytale, right?" Jay asks mainly for confirmation.

"Yes, to be exact, the tale of Snow White," Odie replies.

"So do you reckon the girls are in here too?" Archie asks, now calmer than before.

"I highly doubt it; we have taken positions as characters right? So the girls presumably would do the same. I also presume that Fauthia would have them separated as much as possible. Therefore if they were in this fairytale I would presume they would be Snow White, or maybe the evil queen but I doubt it…" Odie explains.

"Ok, we get it, genius!" Neil says slightly irritated and a little too loud.

"Are you coming?" Sneezy yells from the dinner table before sneezing, unable to stop himself.

"Huh?" Sleepy says as he had dozed off and his head is on the table. He is woken up by the sneeze.

"Dinner is ready!" Snow White announces.

She has hurriedly set the table and prepared some soup for them all to have. The boys made there way to the table and sat down. Snow White begins to dish up the soup. Herry picks up his spoon, awaiting his bowl of soup. Snow White gives Herry his first before continuing around the table. By the time she has given a serve to everyone Herry is already finished his bowl and asking for more. Snow White just giggles and gives him more. Herry returns to his seat to eat his second bowl with the others.

Soon they all have finished eating; each of them having one or two bowls each, except Herry who had five or six. Snow White then sent them to bed. They all went, all five boys feeling tired all of a sudden.

* * *

Archie was the first to wake. They have to sleep in their allocated beds according to their 'names'. He was the unlucky one and got the bed in between Sleepy and Sneezy. The other four have beds in a group. From left to right in entering the room it goes Sleepy, Archie, Sneezy in the group of three then continuing around the room it goes Neil, then Odie, Herry and Jay on the other end. Archie sits up and looks at his surroundings.

"Great! It wasn't a dream," Archie says loudly, not caring if he wakes anyone up.

Realising the difficulty of attempting to get out from in between Sleepy and Sneezy, Archie decides he is not just going to sit there. So he starts to call out to the others.

"Jay! Odie! Herry! Neil! Any of you! Wake up!" Archie practically yells.

"Grumpy, what's your problem?" Sneezy asks.

"My problem is that I am stuck in between you two and can't move!" Archie yells this time.

"You could've just asked me to move! Wait, what time is it?! We'll be late!" Sneezy replies, jumping out of bed. "Get up! Time to get up! Doc why aren't you up yet?"

"Huh? Five more minutes…mmm… where's my mirror? Odie, do you have my mirror? Neil replies. He goes back to sleep. Unbeknownst to him, his hand searches for his mirror automatically at the same time.

Sneezy walks over to the opposite side of the room where Jay is sleeping and begins to shake him.

"Hmmm… what do you want? I was dreaming…" Jays says, not realising who he's talking to.

"It's time to get up, Doc! We will be late for work!" Sneezy says.

Jay, still more than half asleep, says, "Work? I don't want to work today; I want to go back to my dream…"

"Nope! Let's go!" Sneezy says, yanking the blankets off Jay.

As he pulls the blanket off, something tickles his nose and before he can stop himself, he sneezes.

"ACHOO!"

This wakes everyone that was still asleep up, including Sleepy. All of them except Archie begin to grumble.

"Gee, what happened to an alarm clock?" Neil asks, his hand still searching for his mirror.

"Just get up!" Archie states bluntly.

Just as Neil is about to retort, Snow White calls them for breakfast. Herry instantly leaves the room, practically running.

* * *

After breakfast they leave for 'work'. However, Jay has other plans for the five of them, letting Sneezy lead. This seems unusual to Sneezy as 'Doc' always leads them to work. It takes Jay a while to convince Sneezy but as soon as they start walking, Jay eases off and the five of them start to drop back into the forest. The forest around them provides a good hiding place. Once well-hidden in the forest, Jay tells them of his plan.

"I think it is safe to say that the girls aren't in here. We need to find the portal and search another place," Jays says to his team.

"I agree. I'm sick of this place and this outfit is making me itchy!" Neil says agreeing with Jay.

"Ok, back to the main point. I have a feeling the portal will be in the forest somewhere," Jays says, maintaining his focus.

"I agree with Jay, but how do we know it's not wherever we supposedly 'work'?" Odie questions, making sure they make the right decision.

"We will just have to take this chance. I really don't think she'd put it somewhere easy to find," Jays answers.

"Ok let's just search the forest!" Archie adds trying to move them towards making a decision.

"Ok let's spread out in a line, a few metres apart, make sure you can see the person to your left and your right all the time," Jay says knowing he has to make a decision.

The five boys spread out in a horizontal line. Jay positions them in an order he hopes will stop members from wandering. The order is Herry, Odie, Neil, Archie and then himself. They all begin to walk in a line, not long after beginning Neil has his mirror in front of him and is missing all the trees easily. Archie is completely focused and Herry and Odie are chatting happily.

* * *

After walking for what feels like hours Archie stops the group.

"Neil's missing!" Archie quickly shouts aloud for the others to hear.

"_Neil_?" Odie asks, turning towards Archie, who is now on his right.

"Yeah! He was there two seconds ago!" Archie replies.

Jay and Herry approach hastily to where Odie and Archie are standing. Since they could not hear all the details from so far away, they are left clueless.

"Why have we stopped?" Jay asks.

"Neil has disappeared!" Archie says, annoyed that he has to repeat himself.

"What?! He can't have just disappeared!" Jay says.

Odie doesn't reply but begins to walk back a few metres.

"Unbelievable!" Odie says, amazed.

He is standing in front of the portal.

"No way! You mean the portal just suddenly appeared and Neil walked right through it?" Herry asks Odie.

"Yep, he is the lucky one. Although I have a feeling there is something else going on here," Odie says, thinking out loud.

"Who cares?! Let's just go through the portal before it disappears!" Archie states, thinking he is right. He moves towards Odie and through the mirror.

The others follow. Coming out of the portal, they find themselves back in the Forest of Tales, but there are still only _four_ of them.


	6. Help?

A/N: Hey! So here is the 6th chapter of Living Fairytales (LF)! I would like to thank my wonderful beta reader Ferlinda the Dreamweaver! Also, I would like to thank everone who reviewed the last chapter! For anyone interested I have put on my profile page a comment sorta thing about where I'm up to with LF its called 'Living Fairytales News' (you can't miss it)so if you're ever curious about what stage the next chapter is at I will update it so it will say how long til the next chapter! Anyways, please read, review and enjoy! Please review even if you do it anonymously! Also anyone who does review I would like to know what your favourite part of the chapter is! Or anything you liked about the chapter! Oh and a certain character I have given a name to even though originally they didn't have one... you'll know who once you have read it! I hope! If not feel free to ask!

Disclaimer: I do not own COTT and technically some of the characters not related to COTT.... life just isn't fair is it?

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* * *

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**Chapter 6: Help?**

"There you are!" the mother says crabbily.

"Here I am," Theresa replies in a sing-song voice.

"What exactly have you been doing this morning?" the mother asks.

"Umm…" Theresa says before the woman continues ranting.

"You haven't touched your chores! What have you been doing all day? No! Don't answer that because I don't care! You'll just have to do them tonight while we are out!" the mother says, staring coldly at Theresa. "As your stepmother, I have tried to help you, but you don't seem to appreciate it."

The stepmother then walks off up the stairs. As soon as she is up the stairs and around the corner Theresa walks over to the kitchen. On the bench she sees a scroll of paper. Unravelling the scroll, she sees a list of chores. On the top of the scroll it says 'Cinderella's Chores'. Beginning to read the list, she notices a lot of them contain cleaning.

'Great, I'm Cinderella. That explains a lot.' Theresa thinks to herself. 'That means that they are going to the ball tonight.'

Theresa scans the scroll, which reaches the ground, again and looks at the first item: scrub the floors.

"I guess to keep the story moving I should get a move on," Theresa says begrudgingly with a sigh, walking to where she can see a wooden bucket, knowing the story very well.

* * *

"Rapunzel, please let your hair down," the woman on the ground says impatiently.

"Ok, if you say so," Atlanta replies with a shrug, presuming her hair can't reach the ground.

Letting her hair down she stands next to the window and to the side a little bit. She is able to stand straight and her hair still reaches the ground. The woman begins to climb up.

"Ouch, why is this the only way of getting in?" Atlanta says, not realising how loud she is.

"Because, my dear, it keeps you safe. We don't want you running off now, do we?" the woman replies while panting.

"I guess not. But it's a good idea," Atlanta says, mumbling the last part.

Still climbing, the woman finally reaches the top. She climbs through the window with ease. Atlanta begins to pull her hair up and inside the tower. The woman walks towards the bed and beckons to Atlanta to come and sit with her.

"Come on, dear, it's time for our usual chat. I must say that colour looks wonderful on you," the woman says, trying to sound sweet.

"Usual chat?" Atlanta asks, sounding concerned.

"Yes, dear child, you are normally full of questions," the woman says as she pats the part of the bed next to her.

Atlanta walks over to the bed and sits down. She sits at the opposite end of the bed away from the woman. "Actually, I do have a question," she says after sitting down.

"Yes dear," the woman says.

"Who are you and why am I here?" Atlanta asks rather bluntly.

"My dear, what is wrong with you? First you don't remember your own name and now you don't know who I am," the woman says in shock.

"There's nothing wrong with me! I am not meant to be here!" Atlanta says clearly.

"My dear Rapunzel, calm down, I will explain everything to you. My name is Ms. Gothel and I have looked after you since you were a baby, I have been like a mother to you. You live here so you are safe, we have just discussed this." Ms. Gothel explains.

"No I've never lived here! My name isn't Rapunzel!" Atlanta yells, trying to get the message across.

"Well! Perhaps you should rest. I can see you're in no state to talk today. Let your hair down and I shall leave. I will return when you are in a better mood," Ms. Gothel states and stands to leave.

"No! Not unless I get to leave as well!" Atlanta yells, still sitting on the bed.

"Hmm… Let's see… Sorry, that just isn't possible. You are to stay here, as you always do and always will," Ms. Gothel says loosing her 'sweetness' and turning sour. She grabs Atlanta's arm and takes her towards the window. Ms. Gothel releases Atlanta's hair out the window, letting go of her arm. Ms. Gothel is about to step completely out of the window when she stops.

"Now Rapunzel, don't look so angry, I will be back tomorrow and there's no point in trying to escape. There _is_ no other way out and it's not like you can climb down your _own hair_," Ms. Gothel states.

Ms. Gothel climbs out the window, leaving Atlanta standing there. Atlanta is left standing there and fuming. She pulls her hair in and dumps it on the ground before leaning against the wall. A thought suddenly strikes her.

"My hair!" she yells before grabbing her hair and moving away from the wall. She begins to search every ounce of space for something sharp to cut her hair with.

When she finds nothing sharp, she goes back to the window. Dumping her hair on the ground again, she begins to yell.

"Argh!!! I can't stand this anymore!! I want out!!" she yells, thinking no one is around.

She walks over to the bed, still yelling, and collapses on it. She begins to think about what has been happening.

'Why would she call me Rapunzel? Why is something in the back of my mind telling me that I should know that name?!?!' she thinks while lying there, 'All I can hope is either someone saves me soon or I can get myself out of here!'

'You want a _certain_ someone to save you!' the 'Theresa' in her mind interjects.

"This tower is driving me crazy!!" she yells as she rolls over becoming frustrated and tired at the same time.

"Hurry up Arch," she whispers before falling asleep.

* * *

The next day, Atlanta wakes up.

"Still here," she says irritably.

She stands and stretches remembering what happened yesterday. She walks over to the window, this time dragging her hair behind her, not caring. She looks out and sees Ms. Gothel riding on a horse, heading this way.

'Great…' Atlanta thinks while staring at Ms. Gothel.

Ms. Gothel meanwhile is at the bottom of the tower getting off her horse.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," Ms. Gothel begins to yell.

Deciding to try a calmer tactic than arguing, she releases her hair down to Ms. Gothel.

Once Ms. Gothel has climbed up and is in the tower she speaks.

"How are we feeling today? Better?" Ms. Gothel questions smugly.

"A bit," Atlanta replies sweetly, "How are you feeling today Ms. Gothel?"

"Why, Rapunzel, how sweet of you to ask. I am feeling fine today," Ms. Gothel replies.

"That's good," Atlanta says, trying to remain sweet.

"Yes, I am glad you seem to be back to normal today," Ms. Gothel replies.

"Yes I am feeling a lot better, as we have already discussed," Atlanta says, smiling kindly but hating it underneath.

"Shall we continue with our usual chatter?" Ms. Gothel asks appearing sweet again.

"Of course," Atlanta says attempting to maintain calm.

The chat begins with Atlanta trying to stay focused but really staring out the window.

_3 or 4 hours later…_

After so long staring out the window and every now and then replying to Ms. Gothel Atlanta begins thinks things over.

'Should I know what's happening here?' she thought before also thinking 'If Theresa was in this situation, she would know what was coming next! Duh! She's psychic! And knows about these things more than I do…'

Getting sick of Ms. Gothel and her chatter Atlanta decides its time for her to go.

"How much longer will you be staying for Ms. Gothel?" Atlanta asks, trying to give her the hint.

"Oh, not much longer. We will have lunch and then I shall go attend to other duties, why?" Ms. Gothel replies, eyeing Atlanta.

"Oh, no reason, I was just curious," Atlanta answers.

They have their lunch and Ms. Gothel prepares to leave. While helping her, Atlanta searches for something sharp, but finds nothing.

"Looking for something?" Ms. Gothel asks, noticing Atlanta rummaging.

"No, just checking everything is in there," Atlanta replies in the hope that Ms. Gothel will accept her answer.

"Of course, I can't leave _anything_ behind now can I?" Ms Gothel questions.

"No," is all Atlanta can say.

Ms. Gothel walks to the window and Atlanta follows. She tosses the end of her hair out the window, allowing Ms. Gothel to leave.

When Ms. Gothel is at the bottom, Atlanta reels in her hair and remains at the window, watching Ms. Gothel leave. Once the coast is clear, she begins yelling again.

"Would someone come and help me already!!" she yells out of frustration.

She walks back from the window and goes to examine herself in the mirror.

'What am I wearing? Archie would laugh at me if he could see me now,' she thinks to herself, before her thoughts are reminded of her mental argument the evening before.

All of a sudden she hears a "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

So she wanders over to the window her mind still thinking about Archie's reaction. Placing her hair out the window and letting it drop to the ground she feels someone begin to climb up it. Yet this person is climbing differently to Ms. Gothel.

The person reaches the window and to Atlanta's surprise, it's not Ms. Gothel but a boy just older than she is. A look of shock slips onto her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the boy says, pulling her hair in for her. The boy is wearing brown tights and a red shirt with puffy sleeves. With a belt over the top and a hat with a feather in it.

"Umm… you're just not who I was expecting that's all," Atlanta replies a small frown upon her face.

'You're not who I want to see either…' She thinks.

"Fair maiden, I have been waiting for that horrid woman to leave so I may come and see you. I heard your passionate, heart-breaking cries for help and saviour and would not stop until I reached you," the boy says, taking Atlanta's hand in his.

"Why thank you," Atlanta replies, wanting to take her hand back, "When did you hear my cries for help?"

"Before this morn's sunrise and after," he replies.

"Well, may be you can be of some help then… uh? What's your name?" Atlanta says while thinking.

"Oh! Do forgive me, fair, beautiful Rapunzel, I know your name and you do not know mine. My name is Prince Edmund," Edmund says with a bow, finally releasing her hand.

"Pleased to meet you," Atlanta says trying to maintain the conversation, "Say your highness, are you carrying anything sharp on you?"

"No, I am simply out for a relaxing yet valiant horse ride; I do not carry weapons, much too dangerous," Edmund says, "and please call me Edmund."

* * *

The Forest of Tales is rather dark this time when they enter. They are deeper in the forest than ever before and there are only two mirrors standing before them. One stands to their left and the other to their right, at each end of the clearing. Jay makes to move towards one of them when a third mirror appears before their eyes.

"There's no need to move, you wont find what you're looking for," a now familiar voice states.

"Fauthia," Jay says, sighing.

"That would be me," Fauthia says, very proud of herself, "I was just wondering… how is your search and rescue going? Or shall we call it your search for damsels in distress?"

"Terrible! No thanks to you!" Archie says angrily, stepping towards the mirror.

"My, what anger, young prince," Fauthia says calmly, "I also came to give you a hint but... if you don't want it I shall keep to myself."

"No, please!" Odie interrupts.

"Fine, I shall help you, but not because I want to! If I had my way, you four would be gone already!" Fauthia says, her voice beginning to echo as she and her mirror disappear.

"I thought she was going to help?" Herry asks, looking at Jay. Odie and Archie also turn to look at each other.

Before they can answer Herry points behind them to words that have slowly appeared where Fauthia's mirror was. They are in the same green glow that came from her mirror.

As the words slowly appear the boys read them. They read:

"_Young princes, heed my warning;_

_The ones you seek are adjoining, _

_To find two missed you must split;_

_Down the middle is a requirement,_

_Choose wisely, or you shall fail,_

_And there will be no ending to this tale,_

_The seventh shall wait lost within self,_

_Until someone gets him out." _


	7. On the Way

A/N: Hello!! Here is chapter 7 of LF! I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this chapter! I would also like to thank everyone that read the last chapter and especially everyone that reviewed! So please read, review and enjoy! Any questions/Comments please review or PM me... So please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still do not own COTT... i would like to but I can't.. I can't even get it on DVD... :(

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****Chapter 7: On the Way**

"Ok, Edmund it is then," Atlanta says.

"Rapunzel, is there any way I can help you out of this dreadful tower?" Edmund says boldly, kneeling down on one knee and taking her hand again.

"Umm… Could you go back to wherever it is you live and get me something sharp?" Atlanta asks hopefully, pulling her hand out from his.

"My dear? Something sharp? Well… Yes, but why would a fair maiden such as you need something sharp?" Edmund hesitates in his reply.

"Edmund, I need something sharp to cut my hair so I can climb down the wall of the tower!" Atlanta says in exasperation.

"Of course, I shall fetch you my sword. Sharp and stable! Stay put, fair Rapunzel! I shall return with my sword and prepared to escape into the sunset with you tomorrow evening," Edmund states valiantly, standing up again so he is on both feet.

They are still standing just beyond the window and are close enough for him to toss her hair out the window and begin to climb down before she can register what he said.

As he reaches the ground and she feels him let go of her hair, she looks out the window.

"I don't want to escape with _you_! I just want to escape!" Atlanta yells at Edmund who is getting on his horse.

"Til tomorrow evening! Sweet, fair Rapunzel, I shall see you when the sun begins to set and we shall begin our journey together!" Edmund says as he rides off on his trusty steed.

"Ergh! Stay put? It's not like I _can_ go anywhere! And I thought _Neil_ was dopey! Oh well… As long as he brings his sword…" Atlanta states while turning away from the window.

* * *

Theresa picks up the wooden bucket and scrubbing brush, preparing herself for the horrible prospect of scrubbing the floors.

'Not much longer. I just got to keep telling myself that,' she thinks, 'Soon I will be out of here.'

She fills the bucket and walks upstairs. She starts to scrub the floors. She decides to begin with the hallway where she can eavesdrop on the stepmother and the two sisters.

"Mother! That dress will look much better on me!" one of the sisters shrieks.

"Shush, I'm deciding what you're wearing! You have no clue, Anastasia!" the stepmother states.

"But that colour looks horrible on Gabriella!" Anastasia whines.

"Mother picked it for me, Anastasia! Get over it!" Gabriella screeches.

"Gabriella, please leave for a moment. I will finish with you later!" their mother orders.

Theresa hears the door open and focuses on the scrubbing brush in her hand. Gabriella, dressed in a green and blue ball gown, walks past her. A smirk appears across her face when she sees Theresa. As Gabriella walks past, her dress gently brushes Theresa's shoulder. This instantly sends Theresa into a vision.

_Jay's face is in front of hers and they are spinning? She can see hundreds of people, including the stepmother and her daughters, watching with anticipation, astonished by the sight of them._

Her vision is cut short by the voices of the stepmother and Anastasia becoming louder.

"There! You're finally done! If the prince doesn't notice you, Cinderella can stop doing chores!" the stepmother states proudly and begins to laugh.

'He'll certainly notice her,' Theresa thought, 'But not in a good way!'

Theresa then remembers her vision. She becomes excited.

'Oh my god! Jay is the prince!' she thinks, bouncing on the spot.

Ruining her excitement, the stepmother and Anastasia walk out of the bedroom. They both look at Theresa with looks of disgust upon their faces. Anastasia is the first to pass, before the stepmother. As she walks past the stepmother nudges the bucket of water 'accidentally'. This sends water everywhere.

"Oops! I guess you'll have to add mopping the floors to that list. If it wasn't there already?!" the stepmother says, giving Theresa a fake, apologetic smile.

Theresa continues to scrub the floor, eventually giving up scrubbing and getting the mop.

When she has mopped the floors, she is in the kitchen holding the list in her hands. She looks at the next item on the list: feed the animals.

"Ergh…" Theresa lets out with a sigh.

Theresa walks to the kitchen and through it to the back door. Out in the backyard are the family's animals. Chickens and geese are roaming the yard freely. Theresa walks over to the sheds in the backyard. She finds the chicken feed and struggles to pick up the bag. She drags it out of the shed and is instantly mobbed by the chickens and geese. She can feel them scratching her arms and legs as she tries to escape the mob of birds. With feathers flying everywhere, Theresa comes out waving her arms about. She is covered in feathers and her arms are red with scratches. She walks back inside. She groans at the sight of the remaining chores on the list.

* * *

It is now late afternoon and Theresa is finally at the last item on the list: the laundry. She walks up stairs to collect all the dirty laundry from all the bedrooms. While walking up the stairs she examines her hands and arms. Both are red from all of the chores and the birds.

"Who thought chores could be so hard!" Theresa exclaims.

Walking into Gabriella's bedroom, she sees the stepmother trying to finish Gabriella's hair and make up. Theresa almost lets out a giggle at the hideous outfit and hairstyle, let alone the make up. However before she even says anything, the stepmother reacts.

"What do you want?" the stepmother asks rudely, staring at Theresa as if she was worthless.

"I just came to collect the laundry," Theresa answers timidly.

"Oh! The laundry is the last thing on the list, correct?" the stepmother questions.

"Yes, now that you mention it. Does that mean I can come with you to the ball?" Theresa asks, already knowing the answer.

"We will see. If all your chores are done and you have a suitable dress to wear, I don't see why not," the stepmother answers, unhappily yet confidently.

"But mother!" Gabriella objects.

"Shush, if Cinderella has done her part of the deal there is no reason for her not to join us," the stepmother says attempting to seem humble, "Your chores must be done and you must be dressed appropriately by the time we are leaving, if you are to join us. We are leaving at 8 o'clock, no later. Be ready Cinderella, we will not wait,"

"Oh I will be, Stepmother," Theresa answers knowing the stepmother will turn on her at the last minute.

Theresa picks up Gabriella's washing before moving onto Anastasia's room.

Anastasia just throws her clothes at her and stares at her haughtily, waiting for her to leave. She leaves Anastasia's room, glad to be away from them all. She reaches the kitchen, sees the tub used for the washing and dumps the clothes in.

"I guess washing machines aren't invented yet," Theresa states while sighing.

She gets started and washes all the clothes. Her hands feel unpleasant after all the cleaning and she still has to hang out the washing. She puts all of the wet clothes into a basket and wanders outside to find the clothes line.

Once she has hung out the clothes, she returns the basket. She, especially her hands, feels so awful. She walks back to the kitchen to look at the clock on the wall.

'7:43, oh well, its not like I was going if I was ready!' Theresa thought. 'I might as well go and see if there's is even a decent dress in that wardrobe.'

With that, Theresa walks up stairs towards the door at the end of the hallway that she had come out of earlier. Pushing the door open, she walks towards the wardrobe. Reaching in, she moves all the clothes to the right so she can go through them one by one. Looking at all of the pieces of clothing, she sees nothing that is appropriate for a ball. She is about to close the wardrobe when the stepmother calls her.

"Cinderella!" the stepmother screeches.

"Coming!" Theresa yells in response.

Theresa then leaves the bedroom and walks downstairs. She can see the stepmother and her daughters ready to leave and waiting at the front door.

"Not coming?" the stepmother questions with a smirk.

"No, I couldn't find anything to wear," Theresa answers, keeping a calm face.

"Oh, what a pity it is that you can't come. Never mind there is always next time," the stepmother says glaring at her awaiting her response.

Theresa is trying to maintain her composure but after doing chores all day, she has lost it over the whole situation.

"Goodbye then!" Theresa states.

"Excuse me? How dare you speak to me like that! It's a good thing I confiscated that dress of yours!' the stepmother states proudly and aggressively towards Theresa.

"Come on mother! We are going to be late!" Gabriella pleads.

"Goodbye, Cinderella, expect us home later this evening and have our beds ready," the stepmother says bluntly before turning away from Theresa and out the door.

Her two daughters follow. Theresa walks up and slams the front door shut before walking out the back through the kitchen. Theresa goes and sits on a bench outside.

"Thank god they are gone!" Theresa blurts out angrily.

She sits outside calming herself down. She knows what comes next and all she can do is wait.

_Half an hour later…_

Theresa hears a 'pop' and looks up to see a woman staring at her. The woman is dressed in blue and is very sparkly. She has her wand in her hand.

"My dear why is a pretty girl like you so glum?" the woman asks.

"Huh? Oh I couldn't go the ball," Theresa answers almost sarcastically.

"Oh, poor thing! Well, it's a good thing I dropped in then, isn't it?!" the woman says smiling proudly at Theresa.

"I guess…" Theresa begins to answer but she is cut off.

"You guess! Of course it's a good thing I can send you to the ball!" the woman exclaims excitedly before introducing herself, "For I am your fairy godmother!"

"Ok," Theresa answers.

"Well, we better begin! There's so much to do! I need a pumpkin, some mice, and some other things... oh, details, details," the fairy godmother rambles to Theresa while waving her hands in the air.

Theresa is just staring at her in disbelief.

"My dear, you should be excited! I am going to prepare you for the ball! You may meet your true love! Isn't that important?!" the fairy godmother asks.

"I guess," Theresa answers before remembering her vision about Jay, "You're right, lets get started!

"That's the spirit, dear! Now the pumpkin… Ah... There it is!" she says, looking around and, with a wave of her wand, the pumpkin floats towards them and transforms into a carriage.

"Next the mice…" the fairy godmother says before looking at the ground, "they have to be here _somewhere_…"

"Umm... Over there," Theresa says, pointing in the direction opposite to where the fairy godmother is looking.

"Why, thank you, dear! Can't have a carriage and no horses! Oops, we also need someone to drive the carriage… Say, do you know of any animals I may turn into a driver?" the fairy godmother says to Theresa while turning the mice into horses.

"The only animals I know of are the chickens and geese," Theresa says with a shrug.

"One or two of them will do," the fairy godmother says. She waves her wand around and a chicken and a goose come flying out from the barn. They turn into men right before Theresa's eyes. Then they land on the ground and climb onto the front of the carriage where the horses are attached.

"I think that's it, dear," the fairy godmother says, scratching her head.

"I think you may have forgotten something," Theresa suggests kindly.

"Oh, why, yes dear, you're right!" the fairy godmother states, "there are no footmen!"

"Oh!" Theresa exclaims, but that wasn't what she was thinking.

The fairy godmother brings out another chicken and goose and turns them into footmen, allowing them to climb onto the end of the carriage.

"There, it's perfect!" the fairy godmother exclaims excitedly, studying her work.

"I still think you've missed something," Theresa suggests again.

"Me? Forgotten something? I don't think so? Let me see… Carriage - yes, horses for the carriage - yes, driver – yes, footmen – yes. I have everything, dear!" the fairy godmother states.

"I still think you're forgetting something," Theresa states, looking herself up and down as a hint.

"Oh my! Dear, why didn't you say something?! You can't go to the ball dressed like that!" the fairy godmother exclaims, "Well, give me a spin!"

Theresa spins, expecting a ball gown to appear. The fairy godmother waves her wand. Theresa is still spinning and as she places each foot down she hears a clunk.

"Um… I don't think this is appropriate either," Theresa states, looking at the suit of armour she is now wearing.

"Oh sorry, dear, must've got distracted," the fairy godmother answers.

"Shall I spin again?" Theresa asks.

"Of course, dear, I'll get it right this time!" the fairy godmother replies.

Theresa begins to spin and again expects a ball gown to appear. This time she is dressed like a clown.

"Sorry dear, try again!" the fairy godmother says apologetically.

Theresa spins again and this time she is wearing a dress – the dress she was wearing before.

"Uh, sorry, dear, I'm waving the wrong end! That causes the spells to go wonky!" the fairy godmother says.

Turning her wand around to face the correct way, the fairy godmother casts her spell. Theresa is standing there in a beautiful pink ball gown. It is strapless and puffs out at her hips until it reaches the ground. She has pale pink silk gloves on and a choker around her neck. Her hair is in a bun with a tiara holding it in place. She is also wearing glass slippers.

"My dear, you look beautiful!" the fairy godmother says with tears in her eyes.

She shepherds Theresa to get in the carriage, but before allowing her to leave she speaks.

"Oh one last thing, my dear, the magic will all end at midnight. You need to leave the ball and return home before then. Have a good time!" the fairy godmother says, ending her comment in a cheerful tone, while giving the driver a signal to leave.

The carriage leaves and Theresa relaxes into the seat of the carriage before hearing another 'pop'.

"I thought I'd keep you company on the way to the ball!" the fairy godmother says energetically.

"Great," Theresa says sarcastically, but the fairy godmother takes no notice of the sarcasm and smiles happily at Theresa.


	8. Answers

A/N: HELLO!!! Wow.. That was a bit over energetic... Anyways... Here is Chapter 8 of LF!! I'd like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for finding the time to beta-read this for me! I'd also like to thank everyone who read and especially who reviewed!! No matter how late it is (I'm sure you know who you are!)!!! Also thanks goes to tinianiatt, who sorta inspired a line in here somewhere... I was writing it and was like 'someone said that in a review'! So thank you!! Hopefully you can pick it, if not look at the reviews you have sent it was for Chapter 6 I think... Anyways... Please read, review and enjoy Chapter 8!! Any questions/comments you know what to do!!

Disclaimer: I do not own COTT! I doubt I ever will!!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Answers**

The green words are disappearing and the boys are standing there, confused.

"A riddle? She thinks a riddle is helpful!" Archie exclaims.

"Archie, it is helpful! It's just being helpful in a difficult way," Odie says, already beginning to interpret the riddle.

"Ok so you know what it means?" Jay asks Odie.

"Well no… Not yet. But I will once I work out what the words mean in comparison to the context of where we are, I should be able to. Some of it is obvious like: choose wisely or you shall fail, and there will be no ending to this tale," Odie answers while still working on the riddle in his brain.

"How is that obvious? If we choose wrong can't we just try again? Like we are now?" Herry asks watching Odie.

"Well, yes. That's where the no ending part comes in. If we continue to pick the wrong mirrors, there will be no end and we will continue looking until we find them," Odie explains.

"Right, so what does the rest tell us?" Archie asks.

All of their eyes are on Odie.

"Guys, give me some time to work it out!" Odie says, mainly to keep Archie at bay.

Odie begins to pace to help him think.

"Any suggestions could help, you know!" Odie says to the others before continuing to work it out verbally.

"Young princes, that means us or at least two of us… But it's a warning so something is up… The ones you seek are adjoining… The mirrors…" Odie says, moving closer to look at both mirrors. "Neither of these mirrors have an engraving!"

"What?" Jay asks before walking over to the mirror.

"Jay?" Herry asks.

"He's right. There are no engravings," Jay answers, walking back towards what is left of the group.

"So how do we know where they go?" Herry asks, looking from Jay to Odie and back again.

"We don't," Odie states in answer to the question. "She doesn't plan on making this that easy for us,"

"So, what do we do?" Herry asks again.

"We work out the riddle. It has to be the answer," Jay replies thoughtfully.

"Great and how long will that take?" Archie asks, looking at Odie.

"Well, that depends on if you actually help," Odie says.

"Fine," Archie says before sitting on the ground, placing his hands out of habit into his hoodie pockets. "Hey, my hoodie's back!"

"Didn't you notice we were back to normal now that we aren't in a fairytale?" Herry asks Archie, laughing.

Herry then sits on the ground next to Archie, watching as Odie continues to pace, trying to work out the riddle.

"The ones you seek are adjoining… These mirrors have to lead to Theresa and Atlanta… Or to the fairytale they are in which is close enough…" Odie rambles in answering the first segment, "However she said warning so we need to go through them… _Both_ of them!"

"Both of what?" Herry asks.

"Both of the mirrors. That's what the second bit means 'to find two missed you must split'. We have to go through both otherwise we may miss the chance to go through one and be here forever until she decides to give us access again," Odie answers.

"Right," Herry says, not really taking any of it in.

"So you're saying that we have to split into two groups?" Jay asks.

"Yep, that's the safest way to make sure we search both mirrors," Odie answers.

"Ok, so down the middle means two through each?" Jay asks Odie.

"Yep. Choose wisely… Yeah, yeah we know... We will go round in circles if we choose wrong… The seventh…" Odie begins to ramble again.

"Neil," Archie adds.

"Huh?" Herry asks.

"Neil is the seventh," Archie says simply.

"That's it! Neil is going to be waiting until we save him," Odie says, "I think that's it... Waiting within self…Well I guess Neil's being himself!"

"Are you sure?" Jay asks concerned.

"Yep. Basically, Fauthia is telling us that we have to separate and go through both mirrors or we could be here forever and that Neil is somewhere being Neil," Odie answers.

"Ok, so how do we pick which mirror and who goes through which one?" Herry asks, looking from Jay to Odie and back again until Odie answers.

"We don't know for sure. But I think that Jay and Archie should go in different mirrors," Odie answers.

"Why?" Herry continues to ask.

"Because Atlanta and Theresa are in different places and therefore they both want to find a certain one over the other," Odie answers, and before Jay can retort he adds, "Don't deny it, Jay."

"I agree," Archie says, "It makes sense, Jay."

"Ok. If I'm going through one and Archie the other where are you and Herry going?" Jay asks, looking directly at Odie.

"One with you and one with Archie," Odies replies, "Herry can go with you and I'll go with Archie."

"Ok, but which mirror?' Jays says, agreeing with the pairs and moving on to the next problem.

"Umm... That I can't answer," Odie says.

At that moment, as if in answer to their question, a glowing orb of pink light appears. It circles around Jay. Beginning with his feet, it moves from his body to his head and travels towards a mirror. The orb floats in front of Jay's face, leaving a trail of pink behind it, which fades as it continues to move. Jay steps towards the mirror on the left, following the glow. Slowly taking each step, his eyes are engulfed in pink.

"What are you doing, Jay?" Herry asks.

"I don't know. All I know is that I need to follow it," Jay answers, hypnotised by the glow.

"What if it's leading you to the wrong mirror? What if it's Fauthia again?" Archie asks, his tone serious.

"No, Fauthia's glow is green not pink…" Odie answers while also staring at the orb.

"It's so pretty…" Jay says giggling, still wandering towards the mirror on the left, "I want to reach out and touch it."

As Jay reaches out his hand to touch the pink orb, it speeds off, out of sight. Jay shakes his head, confused.

"Huh?" Jay says, looking at his outstretched arm.

"You ok, Jay?" Archie says watching him.

"Yeah, but I don't remember being this close to the mirror before," Jay answers, lowering his arm.

"You were following the '_pretty_ pink orb', as you called it," Herry answers, slightly sniggering.

"What pink orb?" Jay asks.

Before any of them could answer the pink orb appears but this time it circles around Archie's waist and then his head. It hovers in front of his face as he stands up and begins to move towards the mirror on the right, following the orb. Archie's eyes turn completely pink as did Jay's.

"_That_ orb," Herry says in answer to Jay's question.

Archie is now a few arms length from the mirror. His arm is moving from his side and reaching towards the orb, but stops in a horizontal line to his shoulder. All of a sudden he completely stops. The finger tip of his middle finger is just touching the mirror. Upon touching the mirror Archie's eyes went from being full of pink to being lavender purple. He loses all sense of where he is as an image is projected into his mind.

_A tower stands in the middle of nowhere with a forest to the right and the sun to the left. Towards the very top of the tower there is a window. Coming out of the window is a… long rope? A thick, red rope._

"Archie?" Jay yells while Archie is coming out of the orb's hypnosis.

"What? Pink orb?" Archie asks, looking at Herry.

Herry just nods and smiles.

"What happened?" Jay questions Archie, concerned.

"A tower," Archie says.

"What?" Jay asks.

"I saw a tower with a rope, I think, coming out of it," Archie answers.

"Ok, and this 'rope', do you have any other details about it?" Odie asks, thinking.

"Umm… It was red and thick," Archie replies uncertainly.

"Hmm... I think I have an idea," Odie says looking at Archie, "Did the colour of the rope remind you of anyone?"

"Atlanta!" Archie exclaims.

"Yep! Atlanta is Rapunzel," Odie says.

"Ha! I bet she hates it!" Archie says, beginning to laugh.

"So what does that mean?" Jay asks, staying on track.

"That means Archie is meant to go through the right mirror and you, Jay, through the left. That is where the orb led you," Odie answers, "You can go and see if you can do the same thing if you want to find out the fairytale Theresa's in but I think it'll just waste time."

"Right," Jay says, turning around to face the other mirror.

Walking up to it with Herry following as they had agreed earlier, Jay places the tip of his index finger on the mirror hoping for a reaction – nothing.

"Nothing," Herry yells over his shoulder.

"I guess you'll just have to go through it. This place has a mind of its own, it does things randomly," Odie states.

"Right, let's go," Jay says as he steps through the mirror with Herry following.

"Let's go, Odie," Archie says pulling Odie through the mirror.

* * *

Pulling her hair up after allowing Ms. Gothel into the tower for hopefully the last time, Atlanta turns with a sigh.

"How are you today, Ms. Gothel?" Atlanta asks, putting on a sweet, innocent tone.

"Fine," Ms. Gothel answers, "Though I am glad you seem to be back to yourself now."

"Yes, I don't know what happened these last few days," Atlanta says, really getting into character.

"What topic shall we discuss today, dear?" Ms. Gothel asks.

Atlanta stands there, her mind blank. "Umm…" she answers.

"Hmm… out of topics?" Ms. Gothel asks, digging for information.

"No, I just don't know which one I want to save for tomorrow," Atlanta replies while still trying to think of an actual topic.

"Well then, it does not matter we have all the time in the world," Ms. Gothel says smilingly.

"We do," Atlanta says in agreement but becomes sarcastic. "How about we talk about what you do when you leave me for the evening? I bet it is super interesting!"

"You know that is private," Ms. Gothel states.

"Oh, I just thought you might share with me. Us being so close and all," Atlanta says, now turning the tables and digging for info herself.

"No! Choose another topic, I will not discuss my private affairs with you," Ms. Gothel states rudely.

"Ok, can we discuss the forest that is beside the tower?" Atlanta says, thinking quickly.

"I suppose," Ms. Gothel says before entering a long speech about the forest near the tower.

The whole time Atlanta looks interested and is constantly thinking, 'Not much longer! Not much longer!' repeatedly.

* * *

"Blue is my favourite colour, if you didn't know, dear. I do wear a lot of blue. Not that it really matters. It beats wearing purple. Don't you think, dear?" the fairy godmother says talking about herself as she has done ever since she 'popped' into the carriage.

"I…" Theresa begins but is cut off.

"My dear, I am glad I could help. Had another fairy godmother come it could have been disastrous. You probably would never have gotten this far!" the fairy godmother says confidently.

"Of course," Theresa answers smiling, hoping they are near the palace.

"You know, my dear, this is a big deal for me. If I get this right, I will go down in history as the fairy godmother that helped you find true love and rid yourself of those wicked women who make your life horrible," the fairy godmother says excitedly to Theresa.

"Great," Theresa replies, trying to sound interested.

"What do you think you'll say to the prince, dear?" the fairy godmother asks, finally interested in someone other than herself.

"Umm... Hello… I guess," Theresa answers, unsure.

"My dear, you need to be more energetic than that! If it were me, I would strut up to him and introduce myself as if he is the poorer one. Make your presence known! Mind you, if I was the prince, I would notice you as soon as you walk through the doors," the fairy godmother says with extreme enthusiasm.

"I'll keep it in mind," Theresa says starting to get nervous as the carriage nears the palace.

"Oh, my dear, we are so close! Now remember: the magic ends at midnight and don't panic when you see the prince. You look beautiful!" the fairy godmother reassures her, "Remain calm and be yourself!"

"Thanks," Theresa says grateful even though the fairy godmother may have been irritating during the span of the whole ride to the palace.

Theresa steps out of the carriage and waves goodbye to the fairy godmother. She turns around and prepares to walk up the stairs to the front doors of the palace. She stops to admire the palace before taking her first step. As she steps for the first time after arriving she is maintaining her composure, keeping mind of her vision and lifting her dress the tiniest bit, so she doesn't trip. She gracefully makes her way up the stairs. Coming closer to the top of the stairs, she sees guards standing beside the doors. She walks towards them, slightly nervous. Getting closer, one of the guards seems to be standing there lazily scanning the grounds, as if looking for something. She is almost at the doors now and is slowly making her way to open the door, hoping neither guard stops her. Before she places her hand on the door handle, she hears her name.

"Theresa?" the guard on the right, who was looking around, asks.

"Huh?" Theresa answers.

"It's me, Herry!" Herry says, looking at Theresa properly.

"Herry? Where's everyone else?" Theresa asks.

"Jay is here somewhere and Odie and Archie have gone to find Atlanta," Herry replies.

"Oh," Theresa answers.

"You better find Jay and tell him I'll look for the portal now that we know you are here," Herry says before starting to move away from the wall.

"What portal?" Theresa asks.

Instead of actually answering her question, Herry opens the door saying, "Don't worry, Jay will explain everything."

Herry then waits for her to move through the door way and leaves to find the portal.

"What? A portal?" Theresa asks out loud, confused.

Instead of dwelling on it, she begins to look for Jay, beginning with the ball room. Upon entering the ball room she can see hundreds of people. Standing with his back to her and facing the throne she sees a boy with brown hair, similar in height to Jay, talking to one of the guests. She starts to walk towards the boy. The crowd that is gathered around the room gasps and stares at her in awe, amazed by her appearance. Trying to maintain her confidence, Theresa focuses on the head of the boy and her vision.

The length between them seems even longer now that everyone is staring at her. She takes each step cautiously, not wanting to fall in front of so many people. Keeping her breathing steady, she is now a few steps away from the boy. The person he is talking to gasps and signals for him to turn around. He begins to turn and look at Theresa. Theresa waits in anticipation as he turns around to reveal himself.


	9. Found

A/N: Hello! Welcome to Chapter 9 of LF!! To begin with I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for finding the time to Beta read this for me! I would also like to thank everone that reviewed and everyone that read the last chapter and the story so far! Also I have a new story/idea summary on my profile i would love it if anyone read it and shared their thoughts with me!! Also MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!! Please enjoy this chapter! I Look forward to your comments and look forward to sharing the rest of LF with you after Christmas and in the New Year!!

Disclaimer: I do not own COTT, no matter how nice a Christmas present it would be! I do own certain characters throughout the story though!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Found**

All is dark and all that can be heard is the sound of bare feet hitting the ground after a step is taken. The wandering footfalls of the lost. Lost in darkness which is more like walking through blackness; constant, forever black. Up ahead is the most enticing glow. It is bright green. It is far away, but not too far. The foot steps continue to thump as they hit the ground in a constant rhythm. Slow and steady the steps resound, heading towards the glow, emerging through the black. The glow appears warm in the black, welcoming the lost into a safe place; the safest in this darkness. Though wandering, the blind foot steps head in a straight direction, they do not lose their way, nor do they wander. The black in all its perpetuity encases those who lose their way, due to their own mistakes or because of others.

All Neil can see is the glow as he walks through the black. After walking through the portal accidently, yet luckily finding it, he finds himself in black. Taking a few steps he sees the glow. He feels he should walk towards the glow. As he begins to walk towards the glow he clutches his mirror to his chest, holding onto to what to him is real and safe. Shivering as he walks through the black, not knowing what he is walking on, hoping he does not trip or fall. Taking quicker steps he tries to catch up to the glow, however as soon as he gets too close its speeds off. Each time he gets closer, his eyes slowly glow an eerie green, like the glow. As he continues to approach the glow it seems warm and welcoming; if it had arms they would be stretched out ready to welcome him. He is no longer clutching his mirror as he no longer needs its comfort. It is soon forgotten and is hanging loosely in his right hand, his right arm hanging at his side. The glow is calling to him more than ever. It does not make a sound but he knows he must follow. It is drawing him into the unknown, yet he does not care. Taking a few paces, his mirror slowly slips from his fingertips and onto the ground with a soft "plunk" noise, yet Neil fails to notice. He continues to walk slowly through the darkness, the glow calling to him, quickening his steps every second.

Neil's steps have quickened so much that he is within an arms reach of the glow, which can now been seen as an glowing orb of green light. His eyes are now completely green. The orb no longer moves further ahead but stays an arm's length in front while he follows. His walking has slowed almost to a stop. He reaches out playfully to try and grab the orb, but it moves to the side and then behind him. He spins around energetically and, surprisingly in the blackness, does not trip on a single thing. The glow comes close to him and snuggles into his cheek, allowing him to pat it gently. It whispers in his ear and he giggles. The orb decides to move again, considering Neil has stopped completely. It stays close to him, closer than before but enough to keep him moving. Neil continues to walk, following the orb. He continues to follow the orb in the surrounding black.

Soon the orb stops and so does Neil. He lifts his right leg and steps up onto something he can't see. The glow flies back to in front of his face and circles him head to toe while leaving a trail that slowly disappears. Reaching his eye level again, the orb flies to the ceiling to reveal that he is standing in the very centre of a circular room, completely enclosed by mirrors. There are no doors and no way out. He is still in his silk pyjamas, which he was wearing when they entered the mirror from his bedroom, his eye mask atop his forehead. The colour in his eyes has slowly faded to a paler shade of green, but not completely back to normal. All he does is stand there, his three panelled mirror left behind, forgotten. All Neil can do is stare into one of the mirrors; he is drawn in, but not by any magnificent reflection. The mirror is blank; there is no reflection, not even of him. He stands there unaware of anything except the mirror he is staring into.

Standing directly behind him is Fauthia, so close that they are touching. She has appeared in full, a body now with her head, no longer in a mirror. She is the same height or even slightly taller than Neil and is wearing all black. A dress that fall to the ground and covers her arms up to her wrist, the sleeves hang just off of her shoulders. Her pale blue skin is ice cold, yet Neil does not feel her presence. Relinquishing the green glow, the orb flies to Fauthia's hand and disappears. She lifts her hands and places an index finger on each of Neil's temples. She closes her black eyes and then opens them to reveal green, like the glow. Neil's eyes turn the identical colour. Fauthia begins to release her energy into him, drawing him further in. She again closes her eyes and opens, back to black. His eyes fade to normal, yet a faint glow is still evident in his eyes, a faint glow which is present in the mirrors.

Looking directly into the mirror Neil can now see his reflection, but doesn't feel the urge to check how he looks or his hair, he just stares at himself. He cannot see Fauthia behind him, for the mirror hides her presence. All he sees is himself, no matter where he turns. He stops, deciding on one of the mirrors, hypnotised by his reflection, staring unmoving from the podium he is standing on.

Fauthia begins to move around the room and she stands directly in front of Neil, between him and the mirror. He does not move. She smiles to herself. She goes to walk behind him and stand where she was originally. Placing her hands on his shoulder and her mouth close to his ear, she speaks to him.

"You don't need those so-called friends of yours," she says sweetly, "After all they haven't even tried to find you."

Neil, however, doesn't reply. The faint glow in his eyes glows strong for a second, the words sinking into his mind. In the mirror he still sees his reflection, but the orb is sitting on his right shoulder.

"They just let you wander off; all they care for are their princesses! They have just left you to wander alone! What are they doing now? Entering mirrors to find them, not you!" Fauthia says.

"No… They are my friends…" Neil replies, confused.

"No Neil, I am your only friend now. I brought you to safety, you can trust me. You do trust me, don't you, Neil?" Fauthia says innocently.

"Yes…But they will come for me after they have saved the others," Neil states, the glow growing in brightness.

"Then we will be ready for them," Fauthia says convincingly.

"Yes," Neil replies.

Fauthia withdraws from behind him, convinced of her work. As she moves back the orb in the mirror disappears. Neil continues to stare at the mirror directly in front of him, not moving a muscle. Fauthia turns to leave, but before she does she watches him. He does not move. His eyes, though they have returned to normal, are no longer the bright blue they normally shine but a pale, ice blue - the colour of Fauthia's skin.

"Perfect," she whispers.

She vanishes. Neil is left staring, not taking in his reflection, but he knows he must stare. He sees himself, perfect as always, but no comment slips from his mouth nor does he move his hand to feel his hair. All he knows is he must not move, he must stare, the mirror keeps him safe, safe with his _friend_.

* * *

Dragging Odie out of the mirror, all Archie can see is trees.

"Great, _another_ forest!" Archie states, annoyed.

"That's a good thing," Odie suggests.

"How?" Archie asks.

"Because it means we are near the tower that is most likely holding Atlanta," Odie answers confidently, beginning to giggle. "And is she going to be glad to see us."

"What are you laughing at?" Archie asks.

"Uh… You!" Odie replies, laughing.

Archie looks down at himself. He is dressed in navy tights and a pale blue shirt with puffy sleeves that has a belt over the top. Attached to his belt is a sheath with a sword.

After taking in his own appearance, he looks at Odie, "You don't look much better," he says, pointing at Odie.

Odie is dressed similar to Archie, but his sleeves aren't as puffy and he is carrying a satchel.

"Right, well, let's get moving," Archie grumbles.

Odie and Archie walk in a line straight from where they exited the mirror. Soon they are at the edge of the forest. Before Archie can move any further, Odie grabs the back of his shirt.

"What?" Archie questions, glaring at Odie.

"We can't go near the tower yet!" Odie answers.

"Why?" Archie asks.

"Because there is a horse tied to the bushes. That means someone is in that tower with Atlanta. It is most likely the sorcerer that put Rapunzel in the tower," Odie replies.

"Right, so we wait?" Archie says, looking back at the tower.

"Yep," Odie answers.

They both sit on the ground just inside the forest.

_An hour or so later…_

Archie and Odie see the 'rope' that is Atlanta's hair drop. They watch as a woman climbs down and straddles her horse to leave. The woman trots off in the opposite direction to the forest. As soon as she is out of sight, Archie stands and leads the way towards the tower.

Once at the tower they see that Atlanta has pulled her hair in.

"Go on," Odie encourages.

"What?" Archie asks.

"You know the fairytale, right? You have to call her so she will let her hair down," Odie answers.

"Right," Archie says and clears his throat, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel… I'm sorry, this is just too weird… Can't I just call her Atlanta?"

"Uh… I don't know I guess that could work…" Odie answers.

"Good! Atlanta! Can you hear me?" Archie shouts.

"Archie?" is the reply they get from Atlanta as she sticks her head out the window and looks down at them.

"Yeah! Who else would it be?" Archie yells back.

"Oh, you know, the prince," Atlanta replies loosely, waiting, watching for a reaction.

"What prince?" Archie asks.

"The one that's coming to save me! Duh!" Atlanta says smiling to herself.

"Well, too bad cause you are coming with us!" Archie states.

"What if I don't want to?!" Atlanta says, knowing how aggravated and jealous Archie is getting.

"I don't mean to butt in but do you think you could let down your hair so we can climb up and you guys can argue in a less noticeable way?" Odie interjects.

"Sorry Odie, two seconds," Atlanta replies before letting her hair down.

Archie and Odie begin to climb the tower. Odie struggles through the climb at first, but eventually gets the hang of it. Reaching the window they both climb in and Atlanta pulls in her hair.

"It's about time you got here!" Atlanta says, beginning another argument.

"We got here as fast as we could! There's some evil spirit thing controlling the place and I - _we_ couldn't get to you!" Archie retorts.

"I guess that's ok then, but you're still a dork for taking so long!" Atlanta replies.

"Ok guys, I really think we should get a move on with getting out of here before the prince actually does turn up," Odie suggests.

"I agree," Atlanta says in agreement, "But how?"

"I have a sword. Can't we just cut your hair and use it to climb down?" Archie says, stating the obvious.

"Finally! Something sharp! And someone not afraid to carry it!" Atlanta says and hugs Archie out of excitement.

"Ok," Archie says as he hugs her back before she lets go, pulls his sword from its sheath and hands it to him.

"Here!" Atlanta says.

While she is standing there smiling happily at him he takes in what she is wearing. He is too busy studying her and what she is wearing that he stares for a bit too long before realising she is waiting for him to take the sword.

"Thanks," Archie says and takes the sword.

She spins excitedly and waits for Archie to cut her hair.

* * *

Theresa waits as the boy turns around. She smiles, but it is merely a fake one. The boy is not Jay as she is expecting but it is someone else.

"Why, hello there!" he says, smiling confidently at her, as he looks her up and down.

"Hello," Theresa replies nervously.

"My name is Prince Andrew," he states looking at her, "And you are?"

"Th - My name is Cinderella," Theresa answers, and curtsies.

"Cinderella, may I have this dance?" Prince Andrew asks.

"I guess," Theresa answers.

Prince Andrew takes her hand and they begin to dance. He leads her around the floor, everyone present is watching.

* * *

Outside Herry is wandering around the grounds, looking for the portal. He sees a boy the same age as him wandering around as well.

"Hey!" Herry yells out, sounding like a guard.

The boy freezes. As Herry gets closer, he recognises the boy.

"Jay?" Herry asks.

"Herry? Is that you?" Jay replies.

"Yeah, dude, what are you wearing?" Herry laughs.

"Oh, does it matter… We have to find -" Jay says before being cut off.

"Theresa," Herry finished, "Yeah, I've already seen her."

"You have? Well, where is she?" Jay asks impatiently.

"I sent her to find you. I didn't exactly think you'd be, well, you know," Herry says while looking Jay up and down.

"I know, a kitchen hand," Jay says.

"The good news is she's inside, the bad news I'm sure you can work out for yourself," Herry says.

"Yeah, let's go find her so we only have to find the portal later," Jays says, leading the way to a courtyard.

* * *

Theresa and Prince Andrew have been dancing for a while. For the whole time the attention of those in the room, apart from those dancing, has been on them. Theresa meanwhile has many thoughts going through her head.

'Maybe my vision was wrong. I was sure I saw Jay,' is just one of them.

Soon Andrew leads Theresa by the hand, out to a courtyard and she begins to tune into what he is saying.

"You are perfect! Simply perfect! Everything about you fits out what my father was saying about the perfect princess," Andrew begins, holding onto one of her hands, "You were noticed by everyone as soon as you stepped in and we look perfect together."

"We do?' Theresa asks.

"Yes," Andrew answers, "This is going to be perfect!"

"That's really great," Theresa says, not really caring, considering at this point Andrew seems a bit too much like Neil.

"Cinderella, you are so beautiful. Why have I not seen you before?" Andrew asks, standing quite close to Theresa.

"Umm… I don't live that close to here," Theresa answers, attempting to make more room between them.

"Well, that will have to change. Now that I have met you, I don't think I could live without you!" Andrew declares; making the space between them even smaller.

"Really?" Theresa answers, blushing slightly and smiling. She had wanted, waited for so long to hear something like that from _that_ someone with brown hair, and here it is. It wasn't who she wanted but it proved Andrew wasn't completely like Neil.

"Of course," Andrews says, leading her to a bench in the courtyard and helping her to sit in her dress, before beginning to chat.

Little did they know that nearby, a kitchen hand and a guard were crouching behind the bushes and listening to the whole conversation. They had hid there when they had heard footsteps.

"You can't be serious! She's not buying that, is she?" Jay says in disbelief, "Come on!"

"Someone sounds jealous…" Herry teases.

"Shut up, I just don't see why she is happy about this," Jay answers bluntly.

"Jay, it's Theresa, she's been waiting a long time for a prince to sweep her off her feet," Herry answers.

"Yeah, but he's not right for her!" Jay answers, continuously watching Theresa.

"Oh, I see," Herry answers, grinning.

At that point, Theresa's infectious laughter is heard as the wind carries it towards where Herry and Jay are sitting. Watching them, they see Theresa stand as Andrew offers her his hand. They walk back towards the way they came. Jay slowly creeps out of the bushes to follow them. Herry follows close behind Jay.

They reach the door to the ballroom. Peeking in, Jay and Herry can see Theresa and Andrew dancing. Jay glares at them and he is about to turn around when Herry speaks.

"Dude, haven't you ever heard of cutting in?"


	10. Interference

A/N: HELLO!! Sorry it's been a long time since I updated but things kept getting in the way and it took longer than I thought it would to write. Anyways... I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for taking time out of her busy schedule to beta-read this chapter! Also I would like to thank everyone thats read my story so far and especially everone who reviewed!! I'll keep this short so you can read the chapter! So please read, review and enjoy...

Disclaimer: Me no own...

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* * *

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**Chapter 10: Interference **

At the entrance to an unknown place, a pink orb appears. Cautiously it enters, floating slowly as it sneaks into the unknown. Unsurely, the orb glows brightly and summons as much courage as possible to enter a new addition to its world. A part that has never been there before yet isn't a surprise to the pink orb. The orb is confident of how it came to be here, knowing what it will find at the end.

* * *

Archie steps forward and, using his sword, cuts through Atlanta's hair with ease. He then places his sword back in its sheath.

"Thanks Arch," Atlanta says turning around to look at her hair.

"Now let's tie it to something so we can go," Odie suggests, waving his hand towards the window.

"Right," Archie says, looking around the room, "The mirror?"

"I guess, it's the closest thing to the window," Odie says with a shrug.

Archie hands Atlanta her hair and moves towards the mirror. Standing on the side of the mirror that is the furthest away from the window, he begins to push the mirror closer to the window.

Once Archie has pushed the mirror close enough to the window, Atlanta walks over and ties the plait of hair to the leg of the mirror frame. She then tosses it out of the window.

"All right, let's go," Archie says and steps towards the window.

"I'm going down first!" Atlanta says before Archie gets to the window.

"Why? Does it matter if you go first or not?" Archie asks.

"Yes it does," Atlanta states, "Unless you want to trade clothes and you climb down in this dress, I am going first!"

"Fine," Archie replies, not wanting to argue, "Ladies first."

Atlanta walks to the window joyfully, without dragging a train of hair behind her. She begins her descent down her hair. Archie and Odie follow, leaving enough space in between each person.

* * *

Riding towards the tower, he can see three figures – two on the ground and one against the side of the tower. Getting closer to the tower, he can see the rope of hair hanging from the tower and his beloved Rapunzel standing with two men, whom he does not recognise. Edmund rides swifter than before and arrives at the tower within seconds.

"Rapunzel? What is going on?" Edmund asks.

"Umm… I'm escaping!" Atlanta replies innocently.

"But… I… I… thought I was going to save you?" Edmund asks, hurt.

"Well... you were but then Archie came and yeah… I'm escaping… with him," Atlanta answers, signalling towards Archie.

"Oh, I see. However I do not see what you see in this oaf!" Edmund states, looking Archie up and down, clearly not understanding what Atlanta meant. "He has purple hair?!"

"What's wrong with my hair?" Archie interjects.

"Excuse me, sir, no one addressed you! Keep your mouth shut!" Edmund states.

"What gives you the right to tell me to shut up?!" Archie demands.

"I, sir, am a prince! I am royalty! That gives me every right to tell you to close your mouth!" Edmund replies smugly, "And I'll be asking you to step away from my princess!"

"Your _princess_? What if I don't want to!?" Archie retorted.

"Then I'll force you!" Edmund states confidently.

All Archie does is laugh. This infuriates Edmund, who goes red in the face with anger.

"Sir Archibald! You have no right to disrespect me like this! If dear Rapunzel wasn't here I would treat you like the filth you truly seem to be!" Edmund asserts himself from the saddle of his horse.

"Whatever, we're leaving," Archie says turning away from Edmund.

As he turns, he grabs Atlanta's hand to leave. Edmund, who is still on his horse, moves to block their way.

Stepping down off his horse, Edmund draws his sword. His hand shakes at the sudden weight at the end of his arm. Pointing his sword towards Archie, he takes a step.

"I challenge thee to a duel!" Edmund says, waving his sword towards Archie.

"I accept!" Archie replies smiling, withdrawing his hand from Atlanta's and drawing his own sword with confidence.

* * *

Neil remains standing on the podium, forever staring at the mirror. Never moving, just staring. The room begins to glow an eerie green as his 'friend', the green orb, appears in the room.

"Hello friend," Neil says in a sweet voice.

The orb lands on his shoulder and Neil smiles, patting the orb gently.

"Have you come to keep me company?" Neil asks the orb.

The orb just sits there as Neil continues to speak.

"I hope you have. It's rather lonely here on my own," Neil says glumly.

The orb moves closer to his face, snuggling into his cheek and sharing his warmth. Neil doesn't notice the coldness of the orb.

"My other friends don't care like you do. You came back. They didn't start looking for me. They went looking for Theresa and Atlanta. They don't care about me," Neil says, while acknowledging the orb's movement.

"You're absolutely right," the orb answers in his ear, "They don't care, and nobody cares but me. I am the only one you can trust Neil."

"I know," Neil agrees, as his eyes begin to glow green, "But they will come for me, eventually, to try and show they care. They need me, they always need me, yet, they forget me."

"That's right Neil. I care; I didn't forget you, did I?" the orb answers.

"No, you didn't," Neil concurs, "You will keep me safe, won't you?"

"Of course, we will be ready for them. They will never find you. You are safe here, Neil. You don't need those so-called friends of yours, just like they don't seem to need you," the orb says before asking, "Can I show you something?"

"Of course," Neil answers.

Unbeknown to Neil, it is actually Fauthia, not an orb, which appears and she is standing behind him, her hand on his shoulder. In the mirror, he sees the orb. She takes her other hand and raises it horizontally to the mirror.

"I want to show you your friends. Is that ok?" Fauthia asks.

"Yes," Neil answers.

In the mirror images of Archie and Atlanta appear. They are both smiling. The images appear on every mirror in the room. Neil is surrounding by the happy, smiling faces of his friends. Then an image of Jay appears, he is also smiling. Again every mirror displays the picture. Then the picture turns into Theresa, again smiling, but this time her infectious laughter was heard along with the image. Turning on the podium, the pictures flash between Atlanta and Archie to Jay and Theresa. While Theresa's laugh continue to echo through the room, the image turns into Odie and to Herry in a continuous circle of his six friends. The sound of Herry's laughter is also added to the echo. Neil continues to turn, never tearing his eyes from the mirrors and the sound of his friends' laughter harshly drumming the reality into him. It hurt his ears, he wished for it to stop.

"Stop!" Neil shouts, drawing his arms from his sides and they are now over his ears, "Make it stop!"

"Sorry, Neil, I thought you wanted to see your friends?" Fauthia asks gently.

"I did! But I never expected this! I didn't think they'd be so…" Neil stutters.

"Happy? Can you see how happy they are? They don't need you, they have found their princesses without you," Fauthia says, adding a tone of depression to her cold voice.

"I can see it clearly now, they never wanted me around. Never. But why? What did I ever do to make them hate me so?!" Neil replies.

"I know, it is totally unfair. But I want you around, Neil. I never want you to leave. All you have to do is stare at that mirror. You will be safe here, safe with me. Safe, forever," Fauthia whispers.

"Yes, my friend. Safe," Neil says.

Fauthia withdraws her hands and makes to leave.

"Goodbye for now, friend," Neil says seeing the orb fly off his shoulder.

"I'll be back soon, handsome one," Fauthia whispers as she disappears.

* * *

Herry is waiting for Jay to move.

"Jay? Are you in there?" Herry says to Jay who is watching Theresa, Herry knocks on the top of Jay's head.

"What?" Jay asks grumpily.

"Uh you were staring and not moving," Herry replied.

"Oh… I… Umm…" was all Jay could reply.

"Go on, what are you waiting for?" Herry asked, pushing Jay through the doors and closing them behind him, holding them shut.

"It's ok Jay, it's just Theresa, relax. What am I thinking she's not going to want me now, not after this," Jay says to himself while taking a few steps and then stopping to turn around.

"Breathe, breathe. I'd be more comfortable fighting Cronus right now!" Jay continues.

He turns around so he is facing the right direction to walk towards Theresa and Andrew. He froze, watching her dance.

"How do I interrupt something she seems to be enjoying?" Jay asks himself.

"You just walk up to her, tap her on the shoulder and say can I cut in!" Herry answers from behind Jay, causing Jay to jump.

"Where did you come from?" Jay asks in shock.

"From the hallway, remember we were standing out there…" Herry answers.

"I know that! I meant how you got so close to behind me without me knowing?!" Jay states bluntly, a little on edge.

"Umm… Jay? Have you noticed how far into the ball room you actually are?" Herry asks.

Looking around, Jay sees that he is only three steps in the ballroom and therefore Herry has just stepped in directly behind him.

"Ok I can do this!" Jay states confidently taking another step or two.

"Exactly!" Herry agrees enthusiastically.

"Uh, Herry, I think it'd be better if you didn't follow me," Jay suggests.

"Oh right, sorry!" Herry says and moves to leaning against the wall.

Jay continues to take slow steps towards Theresa.

"Come on Jay, it's Theresa. Why are you so nervous?" Jay asks himself.

Jay takes to more steps. He is almost at the edge of the crowd. Theresa and Andrew dance past him and he breathes in Theresa's sweet scent. Jay takes another step or two towards the scent. The music begins to slow to a stop, knowing this is his best chance, Jay pushes through the crowd towards Theresa.

Coming up behind her, he taps her on the shoulder.

"May I cut in?" Jay asks as Theresa turns towards him.

* * *

Rushing along a corridor of mirrors, the pink orb twists and turns in the dark. The corridor is of mirrors that are split by lines that show the separation. The mirrors are without frames and reach upwards towards the sky. Heading towards what seems like a dead end and turning to the left at the very last minute. Slipping through the cracks between mirrors, it heads towards an unknown source of chaos in the realm.

The pink orb continues to fly towards the source; sure of what is at the end of its path. The pink orb begins to move faster, sensing that it is being followed. Soon it truly is at a dead end and transcends up the mirror in an attempt to get over it. This attempt is futile and what has been chasing it has caught up.

From over the top of the mirror a green orb flies towards the pink orb, forcing it back down the mirror, towards the ground. The Pink orb begins to flee in the opposite direction, away from the green orb.

Speeding away from the green orb, the pink orb turns towards the cracks it has been using. However, as soon as it reaches the first one, it finds it closed. There is no space for it to squeeze through. The green orb is gaining speed and the pink orb begins to move again.

The green orb catches up and they begin a speedy race towards the next turn. Along the straight path, the green orb edges towards the pink, causing the pink orb to move as well. They begin a game of cat and mouse. Twisting and turning up and down along past the mirrors. The pink orb finds a tiny crack and just manages to squeeze through and start again as fast as possible, knowing the green orb will be through in a matter of moments. Using the crack as a diversion, the pink orb puts on a burst of speed allowing it to have a slight lead over the green orb. This lead only lasts for a short moment.

The pink orb reaches a dead end and again searches for the cracks that were so reliable on the way in. Its attempts, however rigorous and relentless, are pointless and the green orb catches it with no problem. As soon as it is close enough the green orb disappears and Fauthia appears, with a jar in her hand. She removes the lid from the jar and quickly catches the pink orb. Replacing the lid, she traps the pink orb inside the jar.

"What do you think you are doing?" Fauthia asks the pink orb, while shaking her head, "It never ceases to amaze me how much you try to interfere. Every time, you never can stop yourself!"

The pink orb gave no reaction, except trying to break the glass of the jar, giving up after a few unsuccessful attempts.

"Now, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just let me be just once, if you'd stop interfering. But it seems this time I shall win, and you shall fail," Fauthia states to the pink orb.

She begins to walk back out of the dead end, clutching the jar between her fingers. As she walks down the path she slowly disappears, taking the jar and the pink orb with her.


	11. Perfect?

A/N: Hello! Welcome to Chapter 11 of LF!!! How exciting!! Anyways... Firstly I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta-reading this for me!! Secondly to all the JxT fans that read LF (not to give too much away) I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I've been a bit of a nuisance... which was fun to get all your reviews about!! So everybody (not just JxT fans) please read, enjoy and review the chapter!! I love reviews no matter how long or short.. it could be essay length or just a simple somment either way!!

Disclaimer: I still do not own COTT, just some characters in this story...

* * *

**Chapter 11: Perfect?**

The mirrors grew dark as Neil began to sink into the green. He can no longer resist it; he is sure his friends are fine without him. All that matters is that he is safe, right?

"Where are you, my friend?" Neil screeches.

The 'horrendous' laughter of before still echoes through his mind and the images of his 'friends' are still playing in his eyes, even though no pictures appear on the mirrors. His hand reaches up towards his eye mask as an escape, but freezes as soon as it is millimetres away. His eyes are upon the mirror once more and he feels no need to hide from the images. They disappear completely.

Settling back into his calm position on the podium, Neil's arms are at his sides. He continues to stare at the mirror lost in it, lost in a green that goes unnoticed in his eyes.

* * *

Archie, having withdrawn his sword from its sheath, steps towards Edmund. Edmund takes a step back and his sword wobbles in his hands.

"You're not meant to retreat," Archie states cockily.

"I wouldn't count your jewels before you've got the crown," Edmund replies.

Atlanta and Odie sit down; simultaneously shaking their heads, knowing Archie won't drop the fight.

"Oh you think you've won do you?" Archie asks, still holding his sword strong.

"Of course I do! I am the prince! For there to be a happily ever after, I, the prince, will win this fight!" Edmund states defiantly, shifting his hands so his sword doesn't wobble as much.

"Sure, whatever you reckon. You are not going to win; you can't even hold your sword straight!" Archie retorts, glaring at Edmund's sword.

At this Archie swings his sword up above his head, ready to bring it down just in front of Edmund, a scare tactic. However as he brings it down his sword strikes another piece of metal. Hearing the 'clang' that the metal on metal creates, Archie looks up to see that Edmund has managed to bring his sword up to meet Archie's and it is shaking, struggling to stay and hold Archie's back. Archie brings his sword down completely, taking Edmund's with it.

Edmund's sword drops to the ground. Archie places a foot on it, stopping Edmund from reclaiming it.

"Woo! Go Archie!" Atlanta yells from beside the tower.

This distracts Archie as he looks towards Atlanta, so Edmund uses this chance to move where he thinks Archie can't see him. Sneaking up on Archie, Edmund tries to grab him from behind. Archie has other ideas and as Edmund is sneaking up on him, he turns and punches Edmund in the face with his left arm, which is holding his sword. Using the hilt of his sword, Archie gets Edmund successfully in the nose.

"Oh! How dare you?! You broke my nose!" Edmund exclaims, dropping to his knees and reaching up to feel his nose.

"Hey, it looks better that way," Archie answers, chuckling.

A slight growl is heard from Edmund. Holding his nose, he looks at his sword, looking to regain, any thing in this duel.

Archie, with his foot still on Edmund's sword follows the line of his view and picks up the sword with his right hand. He examines it and turns it over so the hilt is facing Edmund. He reaches out, handing the sword back to Edmund. Edmund slowly stands and reaches for his sword but before his hand even touches any part of it, he gets a swift kick to the head and is knocked out.

"Hey! That was my fight!" Archie exclaims.

"You were taking too long! Can we leave now, please?!" Atlanta replies, turning her back on Archie and walking towards Odie.

Archie follows, catching up to walk next to Atlanta. Odie leads them towards the forest Archie and Odie came out from earlier.

* * *

As she turns, a smile so wide spreads across her face.

"Jay?!" Theresa exclaimed as she saw who interrupted her dance.

Jumping into a hug, she wraps her arms around his neck. This surprises Jay and he nearly lost his balance. Recovering from that, he places his hands on her waist.

"It's good to see you too," Jay replied.

Stepping out of the hug, she notices that Andrew is still standing there.

"Oh, Andrew this is Jay. Jay this is Andrew," Theresa says, introducing them to one another.

They shake hands briskly and then begin to glare at each other.

"Would you… Like to dance?" Jay stutters to Theresa.

"Yes!" Theresa replies excitedly.

She grabs his hand and they move back onto the dance floor. Placing his left hand on her waist and taking her right hand in his, Jay begins to lead Theresa around the floor.

"You look beautiful," Jay says while they're dancing.

"Thanks," Theresa answers, blushing slightly.

"I'm sorry we didn't find you earlier," Jay says apologetically.

"Its ok, I saw you coming," Theresa answers, making them both smile.

As she smiles she looks around the room, again all the faces are watching them dance, and again watching them with anticipation, astonished by the sight of them. She sees the stepmother and her daughters. Her vision was being fulfilled. But she did not completely understand the way they were staring.

'If Jay's not the prince, then what is he?' Theresa thought to herself.

This thought leaves her mind as they continue to dance, as the music slows down for a waltz.

As they dance Theresa looks around the room. She saw everyone still, watching them and Andrew doing the most Neil-like characteristic yet. He is staring at himself in the shield of armour in the corner of the room. She shakes her head, in the same way she would if it was Neil.

At this point she feels Jay's body move to next to her instead of in front and feels a tugging in her hand. Looking back at Jay she sees him leading her off of the dance floor and out into the courtyard.

"Are you ready to go?" Jay asks, pulling her in closer to his body.

Just then Theresa notices why every one was staring. Taking in Jay's appearance she smiles.

"I'm ready," Theresa answers, still smiling.

"What are you smiling at?" Jay asks.

"Oh just you, and how I'd rather dance with the kitchen hand than the prince any day," Theresa replies, watching his face for a reaction.

Jay's face eases into a smile as he places a hand on her cheek.

"I'd hope so," Jay says as he leans in towards her face.

Theresa tilts her head, resting it in Jay's gentle hand. Watching her and feeling overjoyed by the moment they are sharing, Jay completes it. He begins to kiss Theresa lovingly. Pressing his lips to hers and feeling her respond.

_A few minutes later…_

"Uhh… Not interrupting am I?" Herry asks looking at Jay and Theresa.

"No, let's get going," Jay says taking Theresa's hand in his and walking towards Herry, who had come from the ballroom.

"Its time to find the portal," Jay says as he leads Theresa and Herry round the back, instead of through the ballroom to the front doors.

* * *

As they arrive at the front doors Jay is just finishing his explanation of what has happened with Fauthia, so far, to Theresa.

"Oh, well, that explains a lot," Theresa says, "So these portals look just like the mirror Neil bought?"

"Yes, and I don't think it's here. I had a quick search before we found you and I couldn't find a thing even similar to the portal. However, Fauthia likes to play games, so that's nothing surprising," Jay answers as they begin to walk down the front steps of the palace.

"Well then, we better start looking," Theresa states as the sound of a clock chime is heard, twelve times.

"Midnight," Theresa says stopping to look at herself. Her ball gown has disappeared along with everything else, except the glass slippers. Taking them off she leaves them on the front steps of the palace. Jay and Herry are watching her, wondering what she is doing.

"He needs them more than I do," is all that Theresa says as they continue to walk down the steps and away from the palace.

* * *

The evermore of green that is consuming Neil is beginning to shine through to the exterior of his eyes and his body, the slight tinge to his once perfect skin makes him look ill. The green that is seeping through his body and his mind, constant and consuming, is slowly working on him, drawing him in to the dark opportunity that is being presented and is irresistibly pulling him in. The green is seeking the deepest part of him, attaching to the very fulfilling element that his 'friend' has created. Seeping into his veins, ever so slowly using the decoy of the mirror that doesn't show a reflection… Neil does not see the green he is becoming, his perfect complexion now sinking from natural colour.

From the podium he is standing on, he does not see what he is becoming. No longer does he hear his 'friends' laughter that brought so much distress, but a calm melody rising out of the mirrors and engulfing him. The melody is warming him, almost, drawing him further in and pushing out the memories of his friends, his real life and reality of the world he is in. No longer does his subconscious push warningly against trusting his friend, the orb, but pushes to trust it completely. That only it holds the truth, the truth of what's real and what isn't.

Staring into the mirror, Neil longs for his friend, for company that truly wants to be there.

"Friend! Why do you come, cause me pain and then leave? Why? You say you care! I know you do! You wouldn't go to this much trouble if you didn't!" Neil whined, hugging himself.

The calm melody thrusts itself at him seeping in through the many mirrors, blending with the green in his veins, calming his concerns, calming his entire being, quickening the spread of green and evil through his veins.

* * *

Appearing, clutching the jar in her hands Fauthia begins to rush towards the back of the bright and welcoming room that she has arrived in. Looking, searching for a place to hide the jar containing the pink orb. Throwing random items across the room, she continues her search. In its uselessness she has totalled the room, finding nothing to contain either the jar with the orb or even the orb itself.

"This won't do," Fauthia says to herself, "Why do you keep your room so neat and organised? You'd be no good at hiding evidence or anything!"

Laughing to herself Fauthia continues her rummaging, "That's why I am the evil one!"

Continuing to search the room, Fauthia finds a mirrored box. Each side holds a mirror, with a wooden frame of about a centimetre around each mirror. The cube shaped box is just bigger than the jar and latches shut. Opening the box she places the jar containing the orb inside the box and then closes the lid and latches it shut.

"How do you like this box now?" Fauthia asks the pink orb.

Stepping in the gaps where she hasn't thrown anything Fauthia leaves the room. Walking out of the door from the room she walks down a hallway connected to the room. She continues down to the end of the hallway, passing a staircase on the way, until she reaches the very end. At the very end is another room, one that is dark, dank and dreary. Its contents are messily placed around the room, a path available to all the necessities, everything in the room is black or of the very darkest shades.

"Now… Where do I put you?" Fauthia asks partly to herself and to the orb.

Looking around the room, she considers many options – the wardrobe, under the floorboards and just simply under her bed. Then a glint of light unnaturally shining through a crack in the curtain catches her eye. Stalking over to the window, she throws open the curtains, straining from the blinding brightness. Out the window she can see her creation – the maze. The maze that contains her handsome one.

"Perfect," she mutters to herself.

Before she moves, she returns the curtains to their usual position. Leaving her room, she races back down the hallway towards the stairs. Sprinting down the stairs, she reaches the grand hall, and as she reaches for the door she slowly disappears.

* * *

"Hello friend. Did you hear my call?" Neil asks as his orb friend appears to his left.

"I did," It answers, "And… I bought you something."

"Really?" Neil giggles excitedly.

"But before I give it to you, there are a few things you need to know. This is special to me and there are some rules," His friend answers.

"Ok, tell me!" Neil again replies, excited.

"The first one is that it can never be opened. Never. Not by you or anyone that asks you to open it. The second is that you must never look at it, just hold it for me. Can you do that?" the orbs questions.

"Yes," Neil answers.

"Of course you can. Now open your hands so I can give it to you," the orb instructs.

Neil opens his hands and puts them in front of his body with the palms up, waiting for his gift. In front of him, Fauthia takes out the mirrored box and places it in his hand. His hands close around it, clutching it as if it is fragile.

All Neil sees is the orb move down towards his hands and then feeling the weight of the box. He never once looked at the actual box.

"Thank you friend," Fauthia says before disappearing.

"You're welcome," Neil answers, watching his orb friend fly away.


	12. Walking

A/N: Hello!!! Long time no... update?? Anyways.. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to have the chapter ready for posting. I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this chapter for me. Also I would liek to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my story so far. So I will talk no more and let you read the chapter. Please enjoy and don't forget to review!!

Disclaimer: Class of the Titans still does not belong to me, just a few characters within this story.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Walking**

Sick of confinement, the pink orb begins to rush at the edges of the jar, fruitlessly attempting to make it shift. Changing tactics slightly, it begins to rush at the lid, hoping Fauthia hasn't placed it on properly. To no avail, the lid does not move and it is still stuck inside a jar that is in turn inside a box. Floating down to about halfway down the empty space of the jar the orb hovers for a moment. With what feels like no other options, the orb begins to rush at the sides of the jar again. However, instead of simply just horizontal or vertical, it does it at any angle possible in the tiny space it has, hoping to imbalance it enough to cause the jar to tip.

* * *

Stepping into the street, they begin their search for the portal. Walking in silence towards the village, following Theresa's intuition, they glance down every alley and in every window. The crunch of gravel is heard under their feet in between the slight noises coming from Herry's armour.

"How much longer do you think it's going to take us to find the portal?" Herry asks to break the silence.

"With Fauthia in control, who knows?" Jay answers, continuing to search the street.

Continuing their search through the local village with markets and other stalls, Jay, Theresa and Herry trudge on looking for the portal. Theresa continues to lead by taking them through the darkest streets around the village, taking some steps quicker than others as she has more sense of direction.

"I think it's moving. I keep losing all bearing on which way we should be going. We are almost going round in circles," Theresa says, stopping to lean against a stall containing jewellery.

"That's ok. We knew this was going to be difficult," Jay replies encouragingly.

"Jay, we can't keep going round in circles, we are getting nowhere. What if we are wandering around like this for days?" Theresa states while looking at Jay.

"We won't. I have faith in you and the fact that eventually Fauthia will let us get to the portal," Jay answers staring back at Theresa, trying to convince her.

"Yeah, but what will she have waiting for us on the other side?" Herry interjects.

"That's what I'm afraid of. We won't know until we find the portal and at least get back to the Forest of Tales," Jay says still watching Theresa, "I know you can find it. We will find it."

"Well, then can we have a rest then. I'm not going to be any use if we search all night," Theresa says, giving in to Jay.

_A while later…_

In a sense of déjà vu, Jay, Theresa and Herry walk past part of the village that contains stalls, like every other part of the village, seeing the gleam of jewellery on the stalls. The only difference is the slight fog that is creeping in from every direction. As they continue to walk, the fog thickens around them. Taking each step slowly, the three of them continue to walk in what feels like the same direction they have been walking for hours, following Theresa's intuition.

"Jay, we can't continue to walk through this fog," Theresa says, feeling unsuccessfully for Jay by her side.

"Do you know which way is out?" Jay asks from her left.

"Not exactly, I can sense that it's thinner behind us," Theresa answers, turning around, still unable to see either Jay or Herry.

"Right then, we turn around and walk," Herry suggests from somewhere on Theresa's left.

At that point the fog in front of Theresa not only thins out but begins to change colour. Turning to a glowing green, the fog is thinning before her eyes. She senses Jay and Herry turn and face the same way as her. Now that they are all facing the same way they see a path developing. The thin path allows enough space for one to walk down the path. Knowing the definition of the path to be straight and continuous, Theresa leads the trio down the path. As she takes the first few steps down the path, Jay and Herry quickly follow too, keeping close as the fog closes around them.

* * *

Hearing the hooves of a horse from somewhere in the distance, Archie, Atlanta and Odie begin to sprint towards the edge of the forest. For Archie, this is no problem and normally it wouldn't have been for Atlanta, except that she has to coordinate running in a dress. Not something she usually did. However, she still manages to keep pace with Archie, lifting her dress enough not to trip. Odie, however, gets left behind and the other two reach the edge of the forest before him. Turning to wait for Odie, the pair wait, hearing the hooves get slowly louder and closer.

Odie reaches them just in time to see a horse come galloping into sight. Upon the horse is Ms Gotham. Looking straight at the tower, Ms Gotham does not look towards them. However, she sees a horse, standing over something in the dirt. From the forest, the trio watch as Ms Gotham slowly approaches the horse to see Edmund's unconscious body.

"I think it's time we left," Archie states, taking the role of leader in Jay's absence.

"Yeah," Atlanta agrees.

"We're walking this time, right?" Odie asks, pleading.

As they begin their walk into the forest, they hear Ms Gotham's horse's hooves again. They walk in no particular direction, knowing they will find the portal when Fauthia sees it as a good time. They walk on and it is no longer than ten minutes til they hear Ms Gotham's scream of anger. Without discussing it, they start moving at twice the speed, hoping she won't search the surrounding forest. All they see is trees, trees and more trees.

After what feels like hours of walking, they stop in a clearing to rest.

"After this I am _never_ wearing a dress again!" Atlanta states, sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree.

"You'll have fun explaining that to Theresa," Archie laughs.

"Shut up, Archie," Atlanta retorts.

"Oh great comeback… Is that the dress talking?" Archie bites back, expecting an argument.

"You'll hear my fist talking in a minute!" Atlanta retorts angrily.

Just as Atlanta jumps up from the ground and is about to punch Archie, Odie intercedes, "C'mon guys cut it out. We need to be serious now, if we don't find the portal soon, the others might be in danger."

"Yeah and they could be walking around just like we are," Archie replies.

"That's not the point. If they are in danger, they will need our help and if they don't, well, then Neil does, so we still need to get moving," Odie states, taking control of the situation. "Let's go, stay close and don't muck around. Can you both do that?"

"Yes," is heard from both Archie and Atlanta.

They begin to walk again slowly, with Odie in the lead, hoping the portal is not too further ahead.

* * *

As they walk down the path, it seems as though they are walking in a continuous straight line that never seems to end. Theresa, going according to her intuition, knows it is the right way to walk. Stopping for a second and losing her way for the slightest of moments, Theresa turns to look behind her, for no reason at all but to gain some bearings. Looking past Jay and Herry, she realises that the fog has closed in behind them, leaving no path of retreat. Turning back to face the way they are walking, she still sees the path. Taking another step forward, they continue down the path through the fog, until suddenly Theresa stops.

"Theresa? Is something wrong?" Jay asks soothingly.

"Jay, we're near something. Something _powerful_, it's the same feeling I got back at the mirror store," Theresa replies.

"It's probably the portal then," Jay calmly states.

"No, there's more to it, I can feel it," Theresa whispers.

"I think we should keep moving, see if the portals close," Jay says, trying to calm Theresa, yet noting her statement.

"If you're sure, Jay," Theresa replies and turns to continue walking.

Step after faithful step, Jay and Herry follow her with every step she takes. They walk on and on through the fog, beginning to be sick of green. Until Theresa stops suddenly, staring into the area in front of her that widens. At its centre is a mirror.

"No way," Herry says as he and Jay move into the area.

"Well, that's an interesting turn of events," Jay says moving forward towards the mirror, "Let's go and hope the others are back by now."

The three of them move towards the mirror with Jay in the lead and Theresa hesitantly at the end. Jay and Herry climb through the mirror, leaving Theresa standing in the middle of the fog, feeling uneasy. As she prepares to climb through the mirror, she places her hand on the frame of the mirror. Suddenly, she is thrown into a vision so confusing, so fast she is left standing and staring at the ground. Though the vision was extremely fast, it was also extremely draining, leaving Theresa using the mirror for support, unable to stand. Theresa manages to climb through and reaches the safety of the Forest of Tales, just in time to collapse beside the portal.

* * *

Walking through the forest, Archie, Atlanta and Odie continue their search for the portal that will take them back to the others. Atlanta, with her better hearing, all of a sudden races ahead.

"Atlanta?!" Archie yells after her as she takes off.

Archie and Odie speed up to follow her. They run for a few minutes and then she stops. Archie approaches Atlanta while Odie slips off to the right.

"Shh!!" Atlanta screeches at them, "You're making so much noise."

"What can you hear?" Archie asks, standing behind her.

"I don't know, it's strange. The noise is unusual for this sort of setting," Atlanta replies, focusing in on the noise.

"Which direction?" Archie asks.

"That way," Atlanta replies pointing to her right. "No, wait."

"What is it?" Archie asks.

"It stopped," Atlanta replies, confused.

"It's ok, we'll find it if it is the portal," Archie replies supportively.

"Hey guys," Odie calls their attention to him. "Is this the sound?"

Walking towards Odie, they follow him to where they can see a branch being restrained by Odie's satchel. They watch him take the long branch in his hands and let go of the branch. Instantly the noise begins again.

"That's it," Atlanta replies.

Walking around the tree to closer examine the noise, Odie picks up his satchel and they turn to face the portal.

"Well, it's about time!" Archie states joyfully.

"You were right about the noise, Atlanta; it _is_ unusual for the setting. See the branch hitting the mirror? Well there's no wind to be moving the branch," Odie begins to explain.

"That's great, but if I remember correctly, you wanted us to leave as soon as possible, so let's go," Archie states waving his hands towards the portal.

They all move towards the portal and climb through, each in turn, hoping to meet Jay and the others on the other side.

* * *

After unsuccessfully displacing the lid on the jar, the orb still remains captive. From inside the jar, and the box, the pink orb is slowly losing energy, not to mention becoming increasingly sick of an annoying melody being hummed from somewhere on the outside of the box. Floating gently to the bottom of the jar, the orb seems to sit on the bottom; its glow appears to fade ever so slightly, before growing in great strength, and filling the whole jar. Using all its remaining energy, the orb begins to change out of orb form and into a smaller yet normal form of self.

* * *

Flowing soothingly through his veins, the hypnotic beats of the melody turn Neil's eyes the darkest shade of green yet; the almost black of his eyes matching the almost green of his skin. Through the many gentle beats of the melody, his skin begins to glow, growing greener by the beat. His mind is sinking further as he clutches the box he has be entrusted with, hugging it to his chest for safe keeping. The melody pushing further into his mind, body and soul is forever playing, never stopping, drawing him in at full strength. Unaware of his own fate, Neil begins to hum his faithful tune out loud, hoping it will keep him safe from harm and his friend near. Standing on his podium and humming away, he is oblivious that he himself is no longer alone.


	13. Visions, Dungeons and Mist

A/N: Hey, I know its been a long time and other than the fact that I have been exetremely busy, this chapter has been sitting in my computer for ages... so I thought I should post it. I would like to thank Ferlinda the Dreamweaver for beta reading this chapter. I would also like to thank everyone that read and reviewed the story at any point so far. Just so you know there will be a sort of challenge between this chapter and the next, if anyone wants to give it a go, but more info on that will be at the end of the chapter. So read, review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own a few characters within this story.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Visions, Dungeons and Mist**

_Crack… the glass breaks… Green… everywhere… A mirrored box… the answer… Trapped… in green… Forest… mirrors… return… home… evil… evil… targets weaknesses… staying is…The beginning of the end…_

* * *

Turning around after entering the Forest of Tales, Jay watches as Theresa stumbles through the portal and collapses on ground. Jay rushes over to her side as the portal disappears.

"Theresa? Theresa, are you okay?" Jay calls while leaning over Theresa.

Following his leader, Herry joins Jay at Theresa's side. Theresa begins to thrash and shake as though she is having a convulsion.

"What do we do, Jay?" Herry asks, looking to Jay for answers.

"Leave her; we can't move her, not while she's like this," Jay answers, staring at Theresa.

Watching Theresa, her body movement begins to settle down, and she slowly stops shaking and thrashes less. She gradually stops completely, but remains unconscious on the ground.

"What do we do Jay?" Herry asks, watching Jay.

"At the moment, nothing. We'll have to wait until she wakes up." Jay answers, holding his head in telltale distress.

* * *

Fauthia opens the doors to the castle and walks past the stairs in the grand hall and heads towards a secret staircase, carefully placed out of sight, off to the right of the grand stairs. She begins her decent down towards the dark dungeons of the castle. The dungeons are all empty and quite clean, for they have never been used, much to Fauthia's dismay. There were no bones, no nothing, just dust, if anything. Walking past the dungeons, she runs her hands along the metal bars.

"Oh, if only I had been able to use you over the years," she says sadly, to the dungeons, "but that sister of mine, urgh, she and all her goodness wouldn't allow it! But you'll forgive me, right? Once I get rid of those pesky young princes, their princesses and their aides, my handsome one and I will rule this world and you'll be full and quite possibly overflowing."

With a smile on her face, she then continues on her path, past the dungeons and into a secret chamber she hid a long time ago, to the one place her sister would never go.

* * *

Stepping out of the mirror, Archie, Atlanta and Odie find themselves in the Forest of Tales. However, they were not in the clearing they originally arrived in.

"_Yes_! The dress is gone!" Atlanta exclaims, noticing she is now back in her own clothes.

"Uh huh, not a particularly helpful piece of information," Odie comments dryly.

"Odie, do you know where we are exactly?" Archie asks, looking around the dark clearing.

"In the Forest of Tales," Odie replies, "But this is not the same part of the forest we were in before."

"Great, so now what?" Archie asks.

"Now we find the others," Odie answers, scanning the forest around them.

He reaches into his satchel and pulls out and shakes a Promethean fire glowstick. He shines it around himself and the clearing until it reflects upon something in the distance.

"Wait, go back," Atlanta exclaims, seeing the reflection.

Odie turns and points the Promethean fire glowstick back to where Atlanta wants it. They see the light reflect off an object.

"Let's go," Archie states, assuming the leader role again in Jay's absence.

"Wait, we don't even know what it is!" Odie exclaims.

"Well, what have we been relying on this whole time… mirrors! So there's a good chance it's a mirror," Archie explains and steps forward leaving the other two to follow.

* * *

Lying on its back, unconscious at the bottom of the jar, the pink orb has transformed itself back into its usual form, except shrunken to fit inside the jar. She has lavender purple skin, is wearing a white sleeveless dress that falls to her knees and has a curved nose and chin. She also has no hair. She remains to lay there in the jar, in the box, not moving but beginning to glow pink once more, showing that her energy is restoring.

* * *

Pacing around the clearing they landed in after using the portal, Jay watches, waiting for Theresa to wake up. Sitting on the ground, Herry watches him as if watching a tennis match. This continues for a while before, Theresa begins to slowly wakes up. Jay rushes to her side, kneeling next to where she is laying.

"Theresa?" Jay asks, "Theresa, are you ok?"

"Umm... I think so." Theresa replies.

"Did you have a vision?" asks Jay gently.

"Yeah, I guess," Theresa answers, looking slightly confused.

"But you're not sure?" Jay asks.

"Jay, give me a minute," Theresa mumbles, still lying on the ground.

Theresa closes her eyes, reliving the vision. After opening her eyes, she stands up and begins to pace. This time Jay joins Herry and watches Theresa pace. She begins to mumble to herself inaudibly.

"I just don't understand, why is there so much green?" Theresa exclaims.

"Because we're standing in a forest?" Herry asks.

Theresa just looks at him, unimpressed

* * *

Standing in her secret chamber, hidden amongst the dungeons of the castle, looking into a viewing well, Fauthia watches between each trio of heroes. Making sure she is ready to intervene, just in case they try to rescue her handsome one.

'Well, well, well. They made it to the portals. What a surprise… not! It was way to easy to lead them straight back to the portals once they had found their princesses. All I have to do now is send them home without them knowing and my plan will be a success,' she thinks to herself, excitement rising within her.\

* * *

"Archie, are you sure this is the right way?" Atlanta asks to annoy him.

"Odie, where's the Promethean fire glowstick?" Archie questions.

Odie pulls out the Promethean fire glowstick, shining it in front of him the reflection of light glints closer than it was last time.

"See," is all Archie says before beginning to walk again.

As they continue to walk, with Archie leading, all they see is trees and after what feels like hours, they reach another clearing. They are approaching from a side of the clearing covered in shadows and as they get closer, Archie realises that this time the clearing is not empty. Archie stops instantly, seeing movement ahead of them and Atlanta, who for some reason was directly behind him, walks into him and falls to the ground. Turning around, Archie helps her up and signals at her and Odie to be quiet. They both nod and begin to follow Archie to creep around the edge of the clearing to get a better view of who was in the clearing. Before they get too far they hear voices, familiar voices.

"Is there anything else in your vision other than green?" the first voice asks.

"Yes, Jay. I wouldn't just have a vision of green. It's all interlinked, but I just don't know how," the second voice replies.

"Arch, if it's just Theresa, Jay and Herry why are we sneaking up on them?" Atlanta asks, knowing the answer and baiting Archie.

"Good point," Archie replies, ignoring her bait, which annoys Atlanta and begins, striding forward leaving Atlanta and Odie in the shadows.

Atlanta and Odie catch up to Archie and walk towards the others. As they do they see Jay watching Theresa pace, while Theresa is muttering to herself and Herry is leaning against a tree, calmly waiting. As they walk towards them, Herry notices their arrival and stands to greet them with a big bear hug.

"You made it!" Herry exclaims while hugging all three of them at once.

"Uh, yeah Herry. Atlanta was only Rapunzel. It's not like there were any monsters or anything," Archie replies.

"Only Rapunzel? You try being Rapunzel! I don't know what was worse; the dress, the hair, Ms. Gothel or being stuck in the tower!" Atlanta shouts.

"What about Edmund? Was he the only part you enjoyed?" Archie retorts.

"NO! But he wasn't as bad as the other four things!" Atlanta answers.

Before Archie can reply to Atlanta Jay interrupts their argument, "Guys, would you cut it out? Theresa had a vision, we think."

"A vision? Of what?" Odie asks, curious.

Theresa is about to answer when the green mist from before begins to swirl around them all. The mist sweeps in between each of them so no one could see each other.

"Oh not again!" Herry whines.

The mist swirls around them a few times, before opening up each one a path. Their paths lead them to the middle of the clearing. They all meet there, confused as the mist didn't change the situation. The mist is still hovering around them, but within a few minutes, it fades leaving all the trees glowing bright green.

"That's Fauthia's glow," Jay states, looking around the clearing.

"Do you think this is her 'helping' us again?" Odie asks.

"I'm not sure," Jays answers, "she has circled the whole clearing, not a path of trees or anything. Last time the mist came it led us to the portal, but this has just coloured all the trees around the clearing."

"So it's not helpful?" Archie asks, slightly aggravated.

Before anyone can answer, the trees fade back to normal colour but out of each tree come an assortment of glowing letters. The letters hover in front of the trees for a few seconds before arranging themselves into four lines of jumbled letters, but also jumbled between upper case and lower case and added grammatical requirements.

"_I m A t K t D h A _

_f I R R O R S r e_

_H E e y, H E o o r _

_O M E w a i t s…"_

"This is her 'helping' us," Odie states, searching through his satchel for his laptop.

Once he retrieves it, he turns it on. His laptop turns on, and then turns itself off.

"What? The battery was fully charged!" Odie exclaims.

He just stares at his computer while trying again. The same thing happens. Then green writing appears on the screen.

"_Your magic will not work here, young aide_,_"_

"Oh great!" Odie exclaims.

"Is your laptop not working?" Jay asks.

"No, apparently my 'magic' will not work here. Fauthia is obviously interfering," Odie replies, "And I don't tend to carry paper and a pen,"

As Odie carefully places his laptop bag into his satchel, a quill, inkpot and parchment fly towards Odie and stop to hover just in front of his face.

"You're kidding me, I have to use those?" Odie complains, looking around the clearing at the others.

"Guess so, buddy," Herry answers with a grin.

Odie grabs the items and places them on the ground. He then takes of his satchel and sits on the ground, places the quill in the inkpot, rolls out the parchment and then takes the quill back out of the inkpot to begin writing down the letters.

Odie begins to attempt to decode the message as the letters fade back into the forest.

* * *

A/N: Here's the challenge (should you choose to accept): There is a pattern to the message Odie is decoding (to do with the first line and then the rest). If anyone thinks they can decode it or want to try to decode it and work out the message before I post the next chapter, PM me with what you think the message might be.


	14. Decoded

A/N: Hey! I know it's been a long time coming and it's possibly not as long as I would have liked but here is Chapter 14! Please read and review. I hope you enjoy this Chapter and hopefully I won't leave it so long between this chapter and the next. No guarantees though...

* * *

**Chapter 14:**** Decoded**

Clutching his precious box, Neil stands waiting, humming the melody and growing greener by the minute, eyes as dark a night. His transformation is nearing its end. He cannot see but his hair is thinning, and slowly bits drop lightly to the floor. He does not care, he _feels_ safe.

Staring straight ahead, he feels the box begin to shake, but he does not look. He said he wouldn't. His humming comes to a stop as he is unsure of what to do. He clutches the box even tighter, but this does not stop the shaking. 'What could his friend have given him?' he wonders to himself. Fear and worry about what's in the box begin to creep into his mind as the melody grows strong around him again, picking up from the place he stopped. He slowly begins to hum again as his doubts wash away, forgotten in his surroundings, forgotten as he stares at the mirror that bears no reflection, not noticing that the latch on the box has worked free, allowing the tiniest bit of green light into the box.

* * *

Flicking through different scenes in her viewing well, Fauthia catches glimpses of Odie working on her message and the various other inhabitants of the Forest of Tales. However one in particular catches her eye. In a room full of green, she stares longing to rejoin him. While looking at this scene she begins to hum along to her favourite melody. She hums until suddenly she stops. She stops as he does; after all she was only humming because he was, caught up in what will be.

"Why has he stopped?" she exclaims.

Looking closely at him, she sees the box, safely held in his hands. Looking closer she sees the shaking, angered by this she sends power through the well and into the room, the melody starts consuming the room, stronger than ever. Faint humming is heard, and Fauthia relaxes.

"Stay strong, handsome one," Fauthia says, reaching towards the well where she sees his face, "we will be together soon,"

* * *

Spreading out the parchment Odie writes all the letters as they were arranged.

"They have been placed like this for a reason," He states more to himself than the others, "but why?"

Staring hard at the letters, Odie struggles to find a connection to any of the patterning. He tries various times to find the message but gets left over letters that don't make any words.

"Getting anywhere?" Theresa asks from across the clearing.

"No. You?" Odie asks in reply.

"No." Is all Theresa says.

Theresa looks around the clearing as Odie goes back to working on decoding the message. Atlanta and Archie are sitting huddled leaning on the same tree, talking about something, they laugh every now and then, clearly amused. Herry is leaning against another tree, just sitting, every now and then he moves, creating a shower of leaves. Jay, however, is pacing back and forth on his own part of the clearing, a thoughtful look on his face.

After watching Jay for a while, Theresa goes back to her own thoughts. She's been trying to decipher her vision. Parts of it make some sense and others just don't.

* * *

Fully replenished and in her normal form, she begins to summon her power. Stretching out hands, pink like the orb she was, she presses the lid of the jar she is contained in. Pressing it does not work so she begins to turn her 'hands' as she presses on the lid and slowly it begins to come off. She continues until she has fully opened the jar and the lid has slid down next the jar in the box.

After releasing the jar's lid, she begins to work on the box, recognising the box as her own; she recalls memories of the latch. Knowing there's no way she'll be able to open it from inside she aims to loosen the catch, hopefully opening the box. Calling back her hands she summons even more power to attach herself to the box and send power through its sides. The box begins to shake. Pouring her power into the box she hears the humming stop. Thinking she is gaining ground she continues. Then the humming returns, assuming it has not worked completely, she stops.

Unsure of what to do next she begins to pace around the jar. Suddenly she gets an uncomfortable feeling and stops dead in her tracks. She looks at where she is standing. She is standing in a pool of green light. Looking up at the lid of the box she sees the slight opening. Gathering as much power as she can, she shrinks herself and transforms back into orb form.

As the pink orb she slowly floats herself up, out of the jar towards the top of the box. She slowly floats up to the crevice, but just as she gets there the lid closes and the latch is replaced.

* * *

Walking out the castle doors, he races down the stairs towards the gates. Hhe stumbles, hearing a sharp cracking noise. Looking down he finds the remains of the glass slipper. Bending down to gather the remains, he sits on the step as a faint glow of green appears by the gates to the castle. Standing he slowly walks towards it, following it out the gates and down the street.

* * *

"Which fairytale do you think Neil's in?" Atlanta asks Archie, while they wait for Odie.

"Dunno, could be anything," Archie replies, then begins to smile, "Imagine if he was stuck in a fairytale that makes him something ugly!"

"Oh my god!" Atlanta says, starting to laugh.

"Imagine Neil as the Frog Prince!" Archie suggests and joins in laughing.

"Oh my god! He'd be green!" Atlanta laughs, "I can imagine the whining already!"

Both continue to laugh as they continue tossing ideas back and forth for a while, when they have run out of ideas Atlanta's face turns more serious.

"Thanks, for saving me Arch," Atlanta suddenly says.

"No probs. You would've done the same for me," Archie replies.

"Yeah, but why did you have to fight that Edmund guy?" Atlanta asks.

"He just got on my nerves," Archie replies.

"Why?" Atlanta asks, watching Archie's body language, knowing she is pressing a tough subject.

"Why does it matter?" Archie replies, a little too bluntly.

"Because I want to know," Atlanta replies, a little hurt.

* * *

Riding on his horse he reaches the forest edge, unsure of what is guiding him. This is not the forest he remembered next to the tower. So where was he heading? He didn't know, but he knew it was towards _her_.

* * *

"The capital letters, the commas, the grammar has to mean something," Odie says, thinking out loud, "I A K D A I R R O R S H E H E O M E, but that just doesn't make sense,"

"Maybe its not meant to," Harry suggests from under his tree, "Just cause they're the same doesn't mean they go together,"

"Maybe," Odie replies, "Herry you're a genius! That's it! I'm looking too much at the similar points of the letters and not the differences,"

"Odie what are you talking about?" Jay Asks.

"The sequence of the letters, they match capital letters to little letters. If I can just work out the order…" Odie answers, "I m A t K… no.. that's not it. It's not that straight forward,"

"_I m A t K t D h A _

_f I R R O R S r e_

_H E e y, H E o o r _

_O M E w a i t s…" _Odie starts to repeat what he wrote down.

"I..f.. m…I…A…R..t…R.., No that's not it either. Wait.. I…f..if. That's why it didn't work before. The letters in capitals don't go together at all." Odie exclaims, suddenly making a connection on the message.

This catches Jay's attention from where he's been pacing, and leaving a flattened path of grass.

"Have you figured it out Odie?" Jay asks walking over towards Odie.

"Nearly, I think I'm on the right path though," Odie replies focusing on his parchment.

After trying a few different methods, putting Capital letters and little letters together trying to make words Odie stumbles upon the answer: the letters in the first line are the first letter of every word. He begins to match the letters in the message in a sort of pattern. He takes the first Capital letter on the first line and matches it with the first group of little letter(s) on the second line. He then does the same but opposite with the little letter matching it to the next group of capital letters. He continues until he has the whole message decoded:

"_If mIRRORS Are tHE Key__, tHE Door hOME Awaits…"_


	15. Mirrors, Paths and Stones

A/N: HELLO! I know it's been a long time since the last chapter.. so here is Chapter 15. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it! Please read and review! Also I would like to thank Tinian I'att for beta reading this for me.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Mirrors, Paths and Stones**

Just as Odie finishes reading the decoded message, a shimmering green fog appears across the clearing. The glowing fog quickly begins to grow in size; it continues to grow until the fog begins to clear. It soon reveals a mirror, the same mirror they have all seen too often. They all stop what they are doing and stare at the mirror. Odie stands and slowly makes his way toward the mirror. As he gets closer, he slowly reaches his arm out as he's seen Archie and Jay do before.

"Careful Odie, we don't know where this mirror leads," Jay says watching Odie without blinking.

"I know Jay, that's why I need to touch the surface," Odie replies.

He gently places just the tip of his finger on the face of the mirror. It begins to ripple like water, beginning to show the image of what awaits them should they step through the portal.

Odie moves to the side, stepping back so they can all see.

"No way," Archie exclaims his anger rising, he starts to fidget, "of course there's the exit and we can't leave!"

On the other side of the mirror, they see a bedroom, one they have all seen before.

* * *

Fauthia watches, waiting for them to leap through the mirror.

"Why aren't you leaving?" she almost yells at the pool through which she is viewing them.

Angrily, she splashes away the sight of them. She rises and walks toward the staircase leading out of the dungeon, up to the grand hall of the castle and out the front door.

* * *

They all remain staring at the mirror. Longing for home, yet knowing they can't leave without Neil. Archie is the first to stop staring, standing up from where he and Atlanta are sitting.

"Come on. This is getting us nowhere," Archie states, annoyance seeping into his voice, and starts walking away from the mirror, along a path none of them saw before.

"Wait, Archie where are you going?" Atlanta asks, catching up with him while the others just watch.

"Away from that mirror. If that's the way home we need to go somewhere else," he replies, still walking.

Atlanta steps in front of Archie, blocking his path. He tries to step around her, but she steps into his path again.

"Just walking in any direction won't help," Atlanta says.

"I know, but I can't sit and wait any longer. Aren't you getting restless?" Archie asks searching her face for a sign of agreement, expecting her to feel the same.

"Yes, but we can't just walk off. We have to do this as a team Archie," Atlanta says staring back at him, watching his face. "I know you're annoyed, but you need to calm down."

Atlanta waits for his response; slowly she reaches out and places her hand on his arm, just above his elbow. She can feel how tense he is.

"I am sick of this! I want to go home. I want to fight Cronus. Sitting around in that clearing is doing my head in Atlanta, I know I'm not the leader but someone has to start _doing_ something. We need to keep moving or something so Fauthia doesn't move the stupid mirror and send us home herself," Archie replies, trying not to yell. He searches her face willing her to understand.

"I know Archie, but we need to wait for Jay's instructions. You know that," she says, sliding her hand down his arm until it reaches his hand. She twines her fingers through his, ready to pull him back toward the group if she has to. He remains watching her, searching her face, looking into her eyes. He knows she is right. Slowly he lets her lead him back to the group.

* * *

The four of them stay in the clearing as Atlanta catches up to Archie. Jay is pacing again and so is Theresa. Herry and Odie stand and stare at the pair as they talk. From behind, it's easy to see how tense Archie is.

"He's angry," Herry says stating the obvious.

"Yep," Odie replies.

"Guys, don't," Theresa says, still trying to work out her vision.

Odie looks at her but continues to talk anyway, while watching Atlanta lead Archie back to the clearing.

"How do you think Archie's going to feel having to walk in that direction again after Atlanta's just brought him back?" Odie asks.

"Even more annoyed. Why?" Herry answers.

"Because logically speaking, he was walking in the right direction," Odie says, gaining Jay's attention.

"What do you mean logically he was walking in the right direction?" Jay asks, looking at Odie.

"Well, if the mirror is the way home and we don't want to go home we should go in the opposite direction. Which is the way Archie was walking, whether he knew it or not," Odie replies.

"Okay, but any direction could be opposite to the mirror," Jay says, "like walking in the direction behind the mirror."

"Except for the fact that in walking toward the mirror we are walking toward the 'exit', in the direction Fauthia wants us to go. In walking directly opposite to the mirror we are walking in direct opposition to Fauthia," Odie explains.

"So you're saying we should take the path that heads away from the mirror?" Herry asks, trying to follow it all.

"Yes, the path that Fauthia is clearly trying to keep us away from," Odie responds.

At this point, Archie and Atlanta re-join the group.

"Hey, sorry guys," Archie says, watching Jay mostly.

"It's okay Archie. We all want to go home," Jay replies pointing to the direction they are going to go. "Anyway, the good news is we know where we're going now."

Archie looks to where Jay is pointing and sees the path he was just walking on.

* * *

Jay leads the group away from the clearing, along the path, in the direction opposite where the mirror appeared and still stands.

Now that they are walking along it, they can see that strange bricks form the path, bricks that have no particular shape or colour. The path winds around trees and over logs, literally, as if whoever created the path designed it to simply go over objects that were there before it.

After walking along the path for a while, their pace begins to slow. They all become bored of the same path, the same trees and the same forest. At least, what appears to be the same forest.

After a while, Atlanta races ahead, she reaches the end of the path only to see the path building itself. At the very end of the path, there is a faint mist, much like the green fog. The mist, however, is pink. Atlanta reaches her hand down to feel it. It is warm to touch. She feels it swirl through her fingers. Moving along with the mist, Atlanta continues to watch the path form under her feet, though she is now moving at a slower pace than she would if she had stayed with the others. She crouches down and places both hands in the mist, watching it float through her fingertips one last time. Then, she races back to the others.

* * *

Floating back down to land at the bottom of the jar, she stops, changes back to her normal form and stares at the lid, considering whether she should attempt to open the box again or not. Having used a lot of energy in her first attempt she sits down in the jar, thinking. Wondering what her sister is up to, she uses a trick her sister requires a viewing well to perform. Raising her hand, she uses the glass of the jar like a mirror, calling upon her home and the many places linked to it, searching for someone.

She watches all the fairy tales pass her by, not seeing any signs of her saviours.

"Where are they?" she whispers, even though no one can hear her.

She begins to scan the Forest of Tales, longing to walk through the trees. She scans a few clearings, a valley and then begins to zoom out her view to see if she's missing something. She sees the many clearings and valleys in her forest, but one in particular draws her attention; it has a faint greenish yellow tinge to it. As soon as she sees it, she knows they are there. She zooms into that part of the forest. Coming up to the side of the clearing she sees them staring into a mirror, discussing what to do. Watching she sees the boy with purple hair standing, about to walk away. She realizes that this as her only chance, she knows where they need to go, yet cannot reach them. Pulling as much power to her as she can, she focuses it into a ball in her hand. Reaching toward the image, she places first the ball of power and then her hand through the image, knowing she needs to keep the connection going as long as possible she places the ball of power on the very edge of the clearing, slowly a path begins to form. She doesn't know how long it will last, but she will lead them as far as she can.

* * *

Walking along the path is a tedious thing. Herry begins pulling at trees as they pass and picking up stones, he finds along the way.

Out of nowhere, Atlanta races back to them, excitement lighting up her face. She begins to talk really fast, about what happened when she reached the end of the path. Half-paying attention to her story, Herry lightly tosses a couple of the stones around in his hand, lost in the rhythm of walking and now the stones, his attention drifts away from the conversation. Looking around the edges of the path he sees nothing but trees and logs for what seems like miles, he slowly drifts to the back of the group.

Suddenly, Herry walks into someone—the whole group has stopped.

"Why have we stopped?" Herry asks, looking at where the others are standing.

"We ran out of path," Odie answers simply.

"Oh," Herry replies seeing the path end abruptly.

Looking back, he sees all the trees and logs he absentmindedly passed, looking lower, he sees a faint pink mist floating gently toward them.

"Uh, guys. We may have another problem," Herry states urgently, pointing to the mist.

They all look to where he is pointing.

"That's the same mist I saw earlier!" Atlanta exclaims, racing toward it.

As she reaches the mist she sees the path slowly destroying itself, erasing any sign that it was ever there. She races back to the others.

"The other end of the path, you can't see any trace that it was there," she says looking at the others.

"So you're saying we're standing on a disappearing path?" Archie asks.

"Exactly," Atlanta replies.

"Great, now what?" Archie questions staring right at Jay.

"We need to find a new path or choose a direction to head in," Jay responds, trying to think.

They all watch as the path reaches Herry at the back of the group and stops moving altogether. Leaving them standing on a small rectangle of path.

They all move off the path watching it disappear completely. Looking around they realized they're deep in the forest now, surrounded by trees.

One of the stones Herry had been carrying drops from his hand. Realising he's still holding them Herry carelessly throws them in random directions. After he throws two stones and hears them hit trees, he throws a third. Only this time it doesn't hit a tree, the sound they hear sounds like glass breaking.

"Mirrors have glass in them," Odie says looking at Jay to see if he's thinking the same thing.

"Herry throw another stone in that direction," Jay instructs.

Herry throws another stone and they hear more glass breaking.

"Let's go," Jay states racing through the forest in the direction Herry threw the stones.

* * *

They run through the forest aiming as straight as they can. Slowing down to a walk, they can see it didn't matter how straight they walked. Walking closer they all see giant mirrors, linked to each other. One mirror has two large cracks in it from the stones.

They walk closer, toward what appears to be a doorway. Before reaching the entrance they can see what the mirrors truly are…a maze…a maze made entirely of mirrors.

"I don't like this Jay," says Theresa worry seeping into her voice.

"I know but I don't think we have a choice," he replies.

Before reaching the entrance to the maze, they come across a sign. It reads,

_"One of three hides what you seek, know you cannot peek. Choose correct and lost will be found, choose wrong there is no second round."_

"What do you think it means?" Herry asks.

"It means we have a choice to make," Jay answers before moving through the entrance.

The others follow Jay through the entrance into a circular room. Surrounded by their reflections they stare at the walls looking for the three of anything. They see nothing but mirrors and the doorway they came through. Turning in circles, the six of them continue to stare at the mirrored walls around them.

Jay slowly walks toward the one in front of him and places his hand against the surface of the mirror. Then he slowly and carefully places his other hand parallel to the first and pushes against the mirror. It doesn't even budge. He moves his hands to the frame and still finds nothing.

By now, the others have started to do the same, but still nothing happens. Not even an image appears like the ones on the mirror portals.

"These are clearly not like the portals," Odie states. "I guess that's what the sign meant about no peeking."

They all start to walk back to the centre of the room, where there is a pedestal.

Reaching the centre first, Odie steps up onto the pedestal. He stands there and waits for the others to join him. While he is waiting, Odie feels a shaking under his shoes. The pedestal has begun to lower itself into the ground. At the same time, the door they came through slams shut, revealing another mirror. The pedestal stops moving when Odie is standing level with the ground. Then, three of the mirrors surrounding the room begin to crack and shatter to the ground, revealing three doorways.

They all turn and look at the doors.

"One of three hides what you seek, know you cannot peek," Odie repeats the words on the sign. "Choose correct and lost will be found, choose wrong there is no second round."

"What are we going to do Jay?" Herry asks.

"We split up, one pair through each," Jay replies. "It's the only way to guarantee we go on the right path."

"Then what?" Archie asks. "We'll be split into three groups."

"We'll just have to deal with that after. The most important thing is to find Neil," Jay answers. "All right, so we stick with what works. Archie you'll go with Atlanta through the door to my left, Odie and Herry you'll go through the door to my right and Theresa and I will go through the door behind me."

As everyone begins to move toward the doorways, Odie starts to step off the pedestal. As he does the pedestal begins to shake again and the doorways begin to close, the mirrors rebuilding piece by piece at a startlingly fast pace.

"Stop!"


	16. Into the Unknown

A/N: HELLO! Here is Chapter 16. I would like to thank Tinian I'att for beta reading this for me! Anyways... please read and review. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Into the Unknown**

"Stop!" the unknown voice calls through the room, deep, masculine and foreboding. "Stop, unless you wish to suffer. Enter through those doors and you open your minds to the maze. For it has a mind of its own. Fears and weaknesses will be exposed."

"Who are you?" asks Jay.

"At this point it doesn't matter," the voice replies, "you need to decide what you are going to do. Find a way through the doors and risk exposing your minds to the maze or get your little friend to move off the trigger and leave the way you came in, completely unharmed."

Nobody answers the voice.

"You have 10 minutes to decide. After that, I will decide. Choose quickly," the voice states and falls silent.

"Jay?" Odie asks.

"Don't move Odie. We need to work out what to do," Jay replies.

"We have to find Neil so we can go home," Archie states.

"Yes. Obviously Archie," Jay retorts, slightly aggravated.

The others stand there watching Jay awaiting his answer. After five or so minutes, he speaks.

"We go after Neil, no matter what the consequences. Agreed?" Jay asks looking at each of them individually as they all nod their heads in agreement.

"Now what Jay?" Herry asks.

"We decide how we're going to get through the doors without leaving someone behind," Jay says.

"As I see it we have two options Jay. Herry keeps his and Odie's door open until Odie can get from the pedestal and through the door. Or, Atlanta swaps places with Odie on the pedestal because she's the only one fast enough to have a chance of getting from the pedestal and through the door unharmed," Archie states, looking at Jay for his opinion.

Jay starts to think through Archie's suggestions. Remembering the way the door rebuilt from shattered glass, he doesn't really see a way for Herry to hold the door open, apart from smashing the glass back to the ground.

"I think Atlanta is the safer option," Jay says looking at Archie first then Atlanta and Odie.

Atlanta walks up to the pedestal and around behind Odie. Since there isn't room for the two of them, Odie shuffles forward a little bit toward the edge of the pedestal, giving Atlanta room to step up on the balls of her feet. When she is balanced, Odie continues to shuffle forward and Atlanta does the same. This continues until Odie is completely off the pedestal and Atlanta is in the middle. Odie walks over to where Herry is standing by the door they are to go through.

"Have you made your decision?" the voice comes through the room all of a sudden.

"We have," Jay answers.

"I see. The maze knows no bounds. As I said, it has a mind of its own. Beware the mirrors they are deceptive. They like to play tricks," the voice warns. "I hope you know each other well. For you will need to trust yourself and the ones around you. Use your strengths. For your weaknesses will leave you lost, like a labyrinth."

"How do we get back out?" Jay asks the voice.

"That is not my problem. Good luck." With that, the voice fades away.

"Right, let's get moving," Jay says, "Herry, Odie get behind your doorway. Stand just inside. You too Archie."

They do what Jay tells them. Jay goes to do the same. He walks over to Theresa, takes her hand and leads her to their doorway. With all, bar Atlanta, standing inside their doorways, they all look at each other.

"The main thing is to find Neil. Then we find each other. Stay safe and stay together. We stay as three groups. Nobody goes off alone," Jay lectures giving Archie a meaningful look, "on the count of three Atlanta."

Atlanta turns to face her and Archie's door. Taking a deep breath, she positions her feet—ready to take off. From her left she hears Jays voice.

"1, 2, 3!" Jay calls.

As she hears the three, Atlanta takes off toward Archie and the door. Moving fast she reaches the door in a matter of seconds and tosses herself over it. Rolling back to a standing position, she turns and faces the same way Archie is, watching as the other doors close, leaving them with only their reflection to look at. Turning back around they see what lies ahead of them, a corridor lined with mirrors.

* * *

Marching into the mirrored room containing her "handsome one", Fauthia slows at the sound of his humming, the sight of a Neil whose skin is the green of her glow, with a head as bald as her own head and eyes the black of night. Slowly walking up to him she reaches her hand up to stroke his face gently, calming her nerves.

"You are safe, my handsome one," she says while continuing to stroke his cheek.

Slowly Neil leans into Fauthia's caress, holding tightly to the box he hums stronger than ever. Fauthia begins to hum along with him, losing herself in the moment. She stays caressing his cheek and humming their tune for a long time.

They stay this way until Neil drops the box in his hands. Fauthia watches, as if in slow motion, as the box falls to the ground. As it hits the ground, a few of the mirrors on the outside of the box crack and shatter. The latch comes loose and opens as the shock of hitting the ground forces the lid upward. Fauthia stands there watching as the lid hovers open for a moment, before falling shut again, the latch catching back in place, she breathes a sigh of relief, bends down, picks up the box and hands it back to Neil.

"Careful handsome one, we do not want to let _her _out," Fauthia says as she places Neil's hands back around the box.

"Yes friend," Neil replies, tightening his grip on the box, cutting his hands on the broken mirrors.

The blood begins to slowly run down his fingers, down his hands and finally onto his arms. Neil does not notice, he just clutches the box tighter, not wanting to disappoint his "friend".

* * *

Herry and Odie watch as the glass rebuilds the mirrored door, getting ready to turn and face what's next.

"You ready?" Herry asks.

"Yep," Odie replies.

As if they've practiced many times before they turn in sync to see the mirrored corridor before them. Seeing no other option then to follow the corridor they start walking, slowly placing one foot in front of the other.

Odie and Herry keep walking along the corridor, getting bored of walking straight. The mirrored floor does not crack; no matter how many times Herry jumps up and down on the spot.

"It's not gonna crack Herry. Come on we need to keep moving," Odie says walking in front of Herry.

Herry begins to follow Odie looking over his head seeing the long corridor, the long, straight, never-ending corridor. After walking through the forest, they now land themselves in the same situation, but surrounded by mirrors not trees.

They continue to walk until the corridor begins to curve, unlike typical maze corners. Odie and Herry slowly walk around the corner, following it as it curves around, like a giant swirl. In the centre of the circle, they reach a mirrored staircase. They look at each other and back the way they came, no longer seeing the curved corner of the corridor. All they see is a wall of mirrors. The maze has closed in around them at the bottom of the staircase.

"Come on. It's the only choice we have," Herry says, signalling for Odie to take the lead.

Odie looks the stairs up and down and slowly lifts his left foot to take the first step up the stairs. He tests the step to see if it will hold his weight; it seems to hold and he moves his right foot to the next step.

Watching from the floor Herry sees Odie slowly climb the first five steps. He decides to follow unaware of what is waiting for them at the top.

* * *

After watching the door close Jay lets go of Theresa's hand and turns around to face what lies ahead. All he sees is a dead end. Jay walks forward and places his hands against the end mirror. He gives the mirror a push; it holds strong and unmoving. Sighing, he turns back around and looks at Theresa. Jay sees her with her eyes closed, rubbing her temples, still confused over her vision. Looking just past Theresa Jay sees a mirrored path, opening up where the door was. He walks slightly past Theresa to investigate the path. A few steps into the path all Jay can see is mirrors, he has moved around a bend, out of sight of Theresa.

"Jay?" Theresa calls and he turns around walking back to her.

"I guess we should get moving. Are you okay?" Jay asks watching Theresa carefully.

"Yeah, it's just a small headache. I think I'm focusing on trying to find the answers to the vision too much," Theresa replies.

"Okay, well don't overdo it. The vision will reveal itself in time. It always does," Jay says, walking over to Theresa, standing close.

Stepping in front of Theresa, Jay takes her hands in his and pulls them down to stop her rubbing her temples.

"Does that actually help?" he asks still holding both her hands.

"Not really," she replies, looking into his eyes.

They stay like that for a few moments before Jay being Jay had to spoil the moment.

"We better get moving," Jay states, a sliver of disappointment laced in the weak smile he gives her.

Letting go of one of her hands, he keeps hold of the other and starts to walk down the mirrored path, almost dragging Theresa along with him.

The path they are on, winds from left to right; never going straight. From above it would look like many joined s's. Every now and then, they turn a corner that feels as though they are going backward to go forward.

"This is getting ridiculous," Theresa says, stopping and leaning against the mirrored wall.

As soon as she touches the surface of the mirror, her vision turns the bright green of Fauthia's glow. She clutches her head, as the light gets brighter and brighter blinding her. As the light continues to blind her, her breathing becomes erratic and she begins to panic.

"Theresa! Theresa? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Jay asks, standing next to her watching her face distort in pain.

Jay grabs Theresa pulling her away from the mirror and into his body. As soon as she isn't touching the mirror, the blinding light stops. Theresa begins to calm down; she slowly moves her hands down from her head and around Jay's neck, leaning her head on his shoulder. Jay's hands slide around her waist holding her to him, rubbing her back gently, as her breathing returns to normal.

Once her breathing becomes normal, she pulls away from him.

"Thanks Jay," she says.

"For what?" he asks, watching her closely.

"For not being Jay the leader for five seconds," Theresa says, with a smile.

"No problem, anything for you," he replies, smiling back.

* * *

"You ready?" Archie asks looking at Atlanta.

"Yep," Atlanta replies.

Staring at the mirrored corridor before them, they move forward together, as they've done many times before. After taking a few steps, they feel a rise in the ground. The floor of the maze is rising and then lowering, like little hills making it slightly awkward to walk on. The corridor remains straight, but the floor continues to wave up and down.

They continue to walk along the path, going up and down with the floor.

"This is stupid! We're getting nowhere!" Atlanta exclaims all of a sudden, her voice echoing through the otherwise silent corridor.

"Yeah, but it's our only option," Archie fires back still walking.

"How can you be so calm? We're walking endlessly in a straight line going up and down stupid little hills!" she points out watching Archie continue to walk.

"Because it's progress, sort of. We may be stuck in an annoying maze, but we have to be getting closer to Neil, closer to going home," Archie replies, calmly, much more calmly than when they were in the forest.

"Argh!' Atlanta yells, clenching her fists.

Frustrated, she slams both her fists against a mirror on the side of the corridor.

"Argh!" Atlanta yells again this time more from the pain that is now shooting through her hands from hitting the mirror.

Shaking her hands, she catches up to Archie who kept walking while she threw her tantrum.

"Were you going to wait for me?" she asks, catching him in no time.

"I was, but I figured you'd catch up," he answers, smirking at her.

He then places his hands on her shoulders, guiding her in front of him and gently proceeds to push her down the corridor.

"I can walk on my own Archie," Atlanta states.

"I know," he replies, as the sound of glass shattering and what sounds like falling boulders, hits their ears from behind them.

"What was that?" Atlanta asks.

Turning around they see the mirrored walls of the corridor collapsing at random angles, some falling in on each other. The ones that do hit each other smash the mirrors and send shards everywhere. Watching the walls for a few seconds, they see the wave of falling mirrors, much like an avalanche, getting closer, quickly, so quickly in fact that it seems to be gaining speed and is now only metres away from them.

"Run!" Archie yells, as they both turn and sprint down the corridor.

Atlanta is leading and keeps running hearing the mirrors continue to fall and shatter. Running for what would feel like miles to others, they sprint through the corridor, never out running the wave of mirrors, hoping to find an exit soon.

They both keep running, starting to tire until Atlanta sees light up ahead.

"Archie, I think I can see an opening up ahead," she calls to him hoping he is close enough to hear her, with a surge of hope she sprints toward the light.

"Good," he replies, breathing heavily.

They run for a few more metres before Atlanta reaches what is indeed an opening in the mirrors, much like a doorway. Turning around she watches as Archie still races the mirrors.

"Come on Archie! You're nearly there!" she calls out to him from the doorway, encouraging him to keep going.

Within minutes, he is at her side and they are both moving through the doorway. Within seconds of them stepping through the opening, the wave of mirrors crashes against it, blocking it. They can now see the golden frame of the doorway, a frame that matches the frames of the mirror portals. It is now full of rubble from the avalanche of mirrors. Turning around, they find themselves in a clearing. The mirrored floors of the clearing look frosted like ice and there is a chill in the air.

"Come on," Archie says, seeing no other way than across the clearing.

Atlanta moves beside Archie and together they start to make their way across the clearing, walking at a slow pace, wary of the ice-like flooring. When they reach what feels like the halfway point—it was much larger than they originally thought—Atlanta pauses to look back.

"You can't even see the doorway we came through anymore," she states.

"It was no use to us Atlanta, why does it matter?" Archie asks.

"It doesn't," she replies. "But doesn't it bother you that we can't see the way we came in or the way we're going to leave?"

Archie has no reply to that; it does worry him. Looking around all he sees are mirrored floors, no walls whatsoever.

"We need to keep moving, before the maze moves or something else happens," he says reaching out to turn her the way they had been heading.

Just as they are about to start walking again they hear a slow cracking noise, looking around they see nothing but open space, like before. Looking down, they see the mirrors below their feet beginning to crack.


End file.
